How to Interpret the Fetal Heart Monitor Tracing?

Fetal heart monitoring is a means which enables the health care providers to monitor the heartbeat of the fetus, most especially during the antepartum phase (labor) of pregnancy. The methods of monitoring could be done internally (in the uterus) or externally (outside the body). Internal procedures include scalp testing, an invasive method of placing electrodes on the scalp of the fetus. Doppler fetal heart monitors, fetoscope, non-stress and contraction tests are, on the other hand, a form of the external methods.

Analyzing the fetal heart rate through the monitor strips includes four factors: the baby’s heart rate, his variability in heart rate, accelerations, and decelerations.

The usual fetal monitor strip has two rows of graphs: the upper and the lower graph. The upper graph records the fetal heart rate (in beats per minute), while the lower graph plots the contraction of the mother (in mm of Hg). The baby has a normal fetal heart rate if he is somewhere in the range of 120 to 160 beats per minute. The little rises and falls in the heart rate of the fetus are what medical practitioners call as “variability.” A change in baseline is regarded as the long term difference in the fetal heart rate which typically lasts more than 15 minutes.

If the baby has heart rate accelerations that are 15 minutes above the baseline which lasts for more than 15 minutes, he is healthy. This means he is getting enough level of oxygen from the bloodstream of his mother. However, the presence of decelerations has double meanings: it can either be just normal or threatening depending on the pattern of deceleration and the severity of its slowing down.

Notations are placed on top of the lower graph. These notations interrelate with the development of the strip. Each small square of the charts stands for a length of ten seconds (thus 1 minute for every six small squares across). Because two squares are 1 cm wide, the strip develops out of the device at a speed of 3 cm/min. Additionally, there are numbers which appear under the upper chart. These numbers measure an amplifying count of panels that were presented, and a reducing count of panels that are left until the roll of paper ends.

Electric fetal heart monitors are used to determine and hopefully prevent hypoxia or the lack of oxygen of the fetus. Signs of fetal hypoxia include lengthy differences from a normal reference point pattern of the baby’s heart rate. When the fetus’s heart rate significantly decelerates, it might mean that the baby is getting some unwanted stress, but could be a positive indication if it coincides with the fetus’ movement or contraction in the uterine; on the other hand, it could be a negative sign if it occurs otherwise.

Interpreting fetal heart rate could be a little tricky. There is a difference between tracing a threatening heart rate and tracing absent signals of being healthy. Results which tell that the baby does not have the complete signs of well-being are quite normal, while tracing an ill-omened heart rate is infrequent. One should not rely on his simple understanding of interpreting and reading monitor strips. It is still always important to have a medical professional with an expertise in this field to interpret the results of a fetal heart monitor in order to avoid misconceptions and further casualties.