The enigmatic quality of the maternal-fetal relationship has been extolled throughout history with little empirical support. We apply time series analysis to data for 137 maternal-fetal pairs collected at 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, and 38 weeks gestation. Maternal heart rate and skin conductance data were digitized in tandem with fetal heart rate and motor activity. No temporal relations between fetal...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate fetal cardiac response to cordocentesis and whether such changes may affect pregnancy outcome. METHODS 117 singleton pregnant women requiring percutaneous trans-abdominal cordocentesis were prospectively included. Fetal heart rate was continuously evaluated by ultrasound for 1 min after completion of cordocentesis and intermittently for 20 min more. Fetal and pregnancy o...

This study examines prenatal-to-postnatal stability in heart rate and variability from mid-gestation through the first year of life. Fetal heart rate data were collected from 52 healthy fetuses at 24, 30, and 36 weeks gestation, and again at 2 weeks and 12 months of age. Fetal heart rate measures were stable during gestation and positively associated with neonatal and infant measures. Maternal ...

OBJECTIVES Determination of gestational age-related modulations in fetal heart rate and descending aorta blood flow velocity in the early human fetus and comparison of aortic variability data with data obtained from the umbilical artery. It is hypothesized that these modulations present in the umbilical artery also occur in the descending aorta. METHODS Doppler studies of descending aorta vel...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of maternal hyperoxygenation on fetal oxygenation and fetal heart rate decelerations during labor, using a simulation model. DESIGN Use of a mathematical model that simulates feto-maternal hemodynamics and oxygenation, designed in Matlab R2012a. SETTING Clinical and engineering departments in the Netherlands. METHODS We simulated variable and late fetal...

1. The aim of this study was to define from umbilical artery flow velocity waveforms absolute peak systolic and time-averaged velocity, fetal heart rate, fetal heart rate variability and flow velocity variability, and the relation between fetal heart rate and velocity variables in early pregnancy.2.A total of 108 women presenting with a normal pregnancy from 10 to 20 weeks of gestation consente...