How to Read a Fetal Heart Monitor Strip?

The procedure of watching and listening to the heart rate of the fetus inside the mother’s womb to detect any stress, most especially during the antepartum phase (stage before the baby is delivered) and during birth is called fetal monitoring. There are different types of fetal monitors employed to observe and measure the heart beat of the fetus: fetoscope, baby Doppler, electronic fetal monitoring, and internal fetal monitor (usually known as the scalp electrode). Due to their differences, there are also various ways to use these monitors.

At first, interpreting fetal monitor strips among these methods might rather seem hard and complicated. But actually, even a commoner could easily read the monitor strip and decipher what code it might display.

Fetal heart monitor interpretation starts with finding the Baseline Fetal Heart Rate which is usually located at the top of the fetal monitor strip. The patterns of a normal fetal heart rate play between 120 and 160 beats per minute. The baseline is stable on a ten-beat variability, say 130 to 140 or 146 to 156.

The next step is to find the toco. The toco is the uterine contraction tracing. It is usually located in the bottom half the strip. The reference point of the relaxation in a mother’s abdomen is on the range of zero to ten. The tracing will begin to rise when the stress (on this case the contraction) starts. Bell curves mean that the tension is at its pick. They return to the reference point when the contraction stops.

Determine the extent of the contractions from each other and the length of their stay from the toco. See the specification of the monitors. Typically though, monitors display the rate of one or three minutes every inch. Use an intrauterine catheter so that the tracing can indicate the force of contractions. Also, it is important to note that tracing varies by the woman’s size and the location of the external toco.

Observe the pattern of the heart rate of the baby with regard to the contractions. If the heart rate tags on a ten-beat variability baseline when the mother is undergoing labor, it is just normal. In fact, it is positive when there is variability. Also, an increase in the heart rate at the start of a contraction is just fine.

The mother, however, needs to alter her position if the readings indicate slowing down in the variables, and if there is an abrupt V-shaped dips under the baseline. These readings mean that there is a pressure in the umbilical cord. It is alarming though when the heart rate drops under the baseline rate and only regains after a contraction. It means that the fetus is having a shortage in oxygen intake.

On a positive note, it is quite normal when there is a low heart rate when the mother pushes the baby out of her womb. During the pushing stage, there is a head compression in the baby which results to lack of oxygen. The baby is expected to recover immediately after between contractions, which at this phase, have a wide space in between.

It is important that someone does not rely on their personal knowledge on interpreting the strip on fetal heart monitors. At least one expert medical professional must be present during the procedure to interpret them and cast the suggested measures to operate.