Why do we need fetal heart rate monitoring? What is the use of fetal heart rate monitoring for pregnant women?

Fetal heart rate monitoring in the third trimester is a must-do check for every pregnant mother before giving birth. It mainly monitors whether the fetal heart rate is healthy and normal. So what are the specific functions of fetal heart rate monitoring? Let's learn about it together~

The role of fetal heart rate monitoring

Fetal heart rate monitoring can usually be done by yourself after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Fetal heart rate monitoring during prenatal check-up is a very important prenatal check-up item in the late pregnancy. It is also the main means of correctly evaluating the condition of the fetus in the uterus. It plays an important role in early detection of fetal heart rate abnormalities and timely treatment to reduce perinatal mortality.

(1) The role of fetal heart rate monitoring during pregnancy

Fetal heart rate monitoring can help us understand the fetal reserve capacity, the status of the fetus in the uterus, detect fetal hypoxia in time, and make an early diagnosis of fetal distress. In the late pregnancy, the pregnant woman's demand for oxygen increases. As the fetus grows, the space for the fetus in the uterus becomes smaller, the chance of umbilical cord compression increases, and fetal distress may occur. A slow fetal heart rate may be caused by fetal hypoxia, but sometimes pregnant women take certain medications, which act on the fetus through the placenta and cause the fetal heart rate to slow down. When the fetal heart rate continues to slow, it is important to check whether the fetus has congenital heart disease.

(2) The role of fetal heart rate monitoring during labor

Uterine contractions during labor can reduce the amount of blood circulating in the uterus and placenta, affecting the blood-gas exchange between mother and child. With each uterine contraction, the fetus is exposed to the test of hypoxia. Therefore, fetal heart rate monitoring before labor can timely detect fetal distress. Active treatment, such as oxygen inhalation or changing body position, can improve the hypoxia state and reduce neonatal asphyxia and mortality.

Why do we need fetal heart rate monitoring?

Fetal heart rate monitoring is to check the health of the fetus in the mother's belly. It can accurately and timely understand the development status of the fetus. If problems are found, remedial measures can be taken in time. Therefore, fetal heart rate monitoring is very necessary for the development of the fetus. Especially in the third trimester, fetal heart rate monitoring must be performed at every prenatal checkup. Self-fetal heart rate monitoring is also a daily routine for expectant mothers. For high-risk pregnant women after 35 weeks of pregnancy (for example, pregnant women with gestational hypertension, hyperthyroidism, etc.), doctors will require hospitalization to continuously monitor the fetal heart rate with a fetal heart rate monitor, and if necessary, continuous monitoring will be performed for up to one hour. Therefore, fetal heart rate monitoring is a must-do prenatal checkup item.

How to read fetal heart rate

The fetal heart rate monitoring report includes the following:

It looks complicated and unfamiliar, right? In fact, the book on fetal heart monitoring is very thick! But don't worry, mothers, we have agreed to take a crash course on fetal heart monitoring for pregnant mothers tonight, there must be some tricks!

The first step is to check the fetal heart rate baseline

Fetal heart rate refers to the average fetal heart rate when the baby is relatively quiet, and the normal range is 110-160bpm;

We can look at this graph. The baseline of the fetal heart rate refers to the average fetal heart rate over a period of time when the baby is quiet. In other words, the fetal heart rate can be greater than 160, 170 or 180, but the important thing is that the fetal heart rate can fall back when the baby is quiet!

For example, our heart rate is normally 60-90 beats per day. When we run in physical education class, our heart rate will rise with exercise and can reach over 100. After running, if your heart rate can return to normal levels quickly, it means that your heart function is good, and the same is true for your baby's heart rate.

Step 2: Look at variability

The so-called variability is the small sawtooth wave in the monitoring chart. I will teach you a trick

"To be healthy, you must have waves"

Let's take a look at the fetal heart rate monitoring chart. It looks wavy, which means the baby is relatively healthy.

If we look at this image, the waves are not so choppy. This image is an image of fetal intrauterine hypoxia.

Everyone knows about variability, right? Remember Dr. Hou's motto: To be healthy, you must have waves, that's all!

The third step is to observe the acceleration and deceleration of the fetal heart rate

A healthy baby will have normal fetal movements, and the heart rate will increase when the baby moves, that is, the curve will rise, even exceeding 160bpm. Then, based on the baseline, the fetal heart rate increases by 15 beats/minute and lasts for more than 15 seconds, which is called an acceleration, indicating that the baby is healthy. The above picture is more intuitive.

If the heartbeat slows down under external stimulation, it means that there may be some problems with the baby. We call this kind of slowing down of the fetal heart rate under stimulation [deceleration]. Let's take a look at the graph below!

If we find that the fetal heart rate is decelerating, we must pay attention and notify the doctor. However, because the fetal heart rate deceleration graph is relatively complicated, I will not explain it here, otherwise it will cause more trouble to all pregnant mothers.

In general, the above 3 points are more suitable for pregnant mothers to master. Here is a small note for you to save. Of course, I would like to emphasize again that these 3 points are definitely not the complete criteria for interpretation. When we were in school, there was a whole course to learn about fetal heart monitoring!

4. Apply what you have learned

Gains: So what practical help will the knowledge you mothers have learned today bring to future guardianship? There are at least four points.

Summary: In general, because the baby develops in stages, fetal heart monitoring is only valuable in the third trimester, and this examination is also the most important part of the third trimester. Therefore, mothers need to treat it with a positive and scientific attitude and get rid of the various misunderstandings spread on the Internet.

How long does it take to do fetal heart monitoring during pregnancy?

1. When should fetal heart monitoring be performed?

In a normal pregnancy, fetal heart monitoring will be included in every prenatal checkup starting from the 32nd week of pregnancy. From the 37th week of pregnancy, fetal heart monitoring will be performed once a week. If the pregnancy is high-risk or there are complications such as gestational hypertension, overdue pregnancy, diabetes and pregnancy, this examination may be performed from the 28th week of pregnancy. Pregnant women can also perform fetal heart monitoring at home. The doctor will first determine the position of the fetal heart. Later, when the pregnant woman is at home, the husband can listen directly to the pregnant woman's abdominal wall with his ear pressed against it, one to several times a day.

2. Fetal heart rate monitoring time

During the prenatal checkup, each fetal heart rate monitoring lasts about 20 minutes, and the monitoring is carried out continuously and uninterruptedly using a fetal heart rate monitor. If an abnormality is found, the monitoring time will be extended. For high-risk pregnant women, hospitalization is required for fetal heart rate monitoring after 35 weeks of pregnancy. If necessary, each monitoring time will exceed 1 hour.