Electronic Fetal Heart Monitoring

What To Think About

• Not everyone feels the same about fetal monitoring.
  • Some mothers think that fetal heart monitoring is not needed and interferes with the natural birthing process.
  • Other mothers think that fetal heart monitoring is reassuring. This may be true if they had problems with earlier pregnancies.
• Fetal monitoring can't predict every type of problem, such as birth defects. Normal fetal heart monitoring test results do not mean that your baby is healthy.
• Continuous monitoring during labor is more likely to be useful for high-risk pregnancies. Intermittent fetal heart monitoring during labor is as effective as continuous monitoring in low-risk pregnancies.
• If your baby appears to be having problems, sometimes a blood sample is taken from a small blood vessel (capillary) in his or her scalp. The blood sample can help determine if your baby is receiving enough oxygen.
• Your baby may move more if you eat or drink juice before having a nonstress test. This may make the test results more useful.
• Sometimes other methods (such as ringing a bell near the uterus) are used to cause changes in your baby's heart rate.
• External fetal heart monitoring is used during other tests of fetal health, such as a nonstress test, contraction stress test, and biophysical profile.
  • Contraction Stress Test
  • Biophysical Profile (BPP)

Other Places To Get Help

Organization

Related Information

• Biophysical Profile (BPP)
• Fetal Ultrasound
• Pregnancy

Citations

1. 
   American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2009). Intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring: Nomenclature, Interpretation, and General Management Principles. ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 106. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 114(1): 192-202.
   

Other Works Consulted

• 
  American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2010). Management of intrapartum fetal heart rate tracings. ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 116. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 116(5): 1232-1240.
  
• 
  Fischbach FT, Dunning MB III, eds. (2009). Manual of Laboratory and Diagnostic Tests, 8th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.