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The distribution of accelerations of the human fetal heart rate at 38 to 40 weeks' gestational age

1985; Elsevier BV; Volume: 151; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0002-9378(85)90028-6

1097-6868

John Patrick, Lesley Carmichael, Laurie Chess, Carol Probert, Cathy Staples,

Neonatal Respiratory Health Research

In order to further understand the use of antepartum fetal heart rate monitoring we measured the distribution, in time, of two, three, or five fetal heart rate accelerations of ≥ 15 bpm for ≥ 15 seconds and of ≥ 10 bpm for ≥6 seconds in 12 healthy pregnant women at 38 to 40 weeks' gestation. The length of time necessary to measure 50% or 95% of intervals containing five accelerations would be substantially reduced by changing to a definition of two or three accelerations. However, an observation interval of at least 80 minutes is required to include the longest time interval of two, three, or five accelerations. These data may suggest new strategies for decreasing time and expense of fetal heart rate testing.