Non-reassuring fetal status is a term used to describe suspected etal hypoxia and is meant to replace the more ubiquitous term fetal distress.” Fetal distress, defined as progressive fetal hypoxia nd/or acidemia secondary to inadequate fetal oxygenation, is a erm that is used to indicate changes in fetal heart patterns, reduced etal movement, fetal growth restriction, and presence of mecoium st...

Introduction: Fetal heart rate and its variability during the course of gestation have been extensively researched. The overall reduction in heart rate and increase in fetal HRV is associated with fetal growth and the increase in neural integration. The increased complexity of the demands on the cardiovascular system leads to more variation in the temporal course of the heart rate which has bee...

• "When fetaJ asphyxia or hypoxia is induced by reduction of uterine and umbilical circulations oi" by administration of a gas mixture of low oxygen content to the mother, there is an increase in the fetal arterial pressure." The effects on the fetal heart rate appear to be variable. Bradycardia has been observed by several investigators.*~ Born et al. noted that the changes in heart rate depen...

BACKGROUND Several studies have reported an association between low birth weight and ischemic heart disease, but it remains unclear whether the association is mediated through poor fetal growth or short gestational duration. METHODS AND RESULTS In a cohort study, we have identified all subjects born preterm or with a low birth weight at 4 major delivery units in Sweden from 1925 through 1949....

Effective intrapartum fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring requires ongoing collaboration among health care providers. Nurses, midwives, and physicians must have a shared understanding of 1) how FHR tracings are interpreted, 2) which FHR patterns are associated with actual or impending fetal acidemia, 3) when and within what time frame the physician or the midwife should be notified of variant FHR...

BACKGROUND Knowledge of fetal oxygen saturation, as an adjunct to electronic fetal monitoring, may be associated with a significant change in the rate of cesarean deliveries or the infant's condition at birth. METHODS We randomly assigned 5341 nulliparous women who were at term and in early labor to either "open" or "masked" fetal pulse oximetry. In the open group, fetal oxygen saturation val...

This paper focuses on the Fuzzy Logic System for fetal heart rate determination. The clinical interpretation of fetal heart rate trace is a difficult task and this has led to the development of computerised systems. These systems are limited by their inability to represent uncertainty. This paper describes the development of a fuzzy expert system for fetal heart rate. The fuzzy logic system imp...

BACKGROUND The overall performance of available mechanical intravascular ultrasound catheters for fetal transesophageal echocardiography during fetoscopic fetal cardiac interventions in sheep has been limited by radioelectronic interference, low system frame rates, and low acoustic outputs. Therefore, a more reliable device is desired for human fetoscopic surgical procedures. METHODS AND RESU...

Following the rapid progress in the development of optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) technology for the measurement of magnetic fields in the femtotesla range, a successful assembly of individual sensors into an array of nearly identical sensors is within reach. Here, 25 microfabricated OPMs with footprints of 1 cm(3) were assembled into a conformal array. The individual sensors were inserted...

Introduction This study presents the first direct investigation of fetal brain activity in utero using fMRI. Human fetal brain activity is usually studied indirectly by monitoring the changes in fetal heart rate and associated fetal movements, although recently fetal MEG has been attempted’. fMRI offers a safe and relatively robust method of monitoring fetal brain activity. This has major impli...