Fetal heart monitoring
Alternative names:
contraction stress test; CST; non-stress test; NST
Normal values:
Normal values indicate that the fetus in not in distress by showing a fetal heart rate between 120 to 160 beats per minute with variability of 5 to 25 beats per minute from the baseline or normal fetal heart rate.
It is not uncommon for the fetal heart rate to drop slightly during a contraction, since placental blood supply is diminished under the compression of a uterine contraction, as long as the FHR recovers quickly once the contraction has stopped.
What abnormal results mean:
The following situations or conditions may be detected by your health care provider by monitoring the data from these tests:
- cord compression (there is no free blood flow to the fetus)
- fetal heart block (where there is a block of electrical flow within the heart muscle causing an altered heart rhythm)
- fetal malposition
- fetal hypoxia (insufficient oxygen supply to the fetus)
- infection
- uteroplacental insufficiency (insufficient oxygen exchange between the uterus and the placenta)
- fetal distress
- abruptio placenta
Update Date: 02/09/00
Updated by: J. Gordon Lambert, MD, Associate Medical Director,
Utah Health Informatics and adam.com
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