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Clinical overview of cardiotocography
Author(s) -
Spencer John A. D.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1993.tb10626.x
Subject(s) - cardiotocography , caesarean section , medicine , fetal heart rate , fetus , fetal monitoring , intervention (counseling) , obstetrics , fetal heart , intensive care medicine , pregnancy , heart rate , blood pressure , genetics , psychiatry , biology
Twenty years after its widespread introduction, the role of continuous fetal heart rate and contraction monitoring in labour (cardiotocography, CTG) remains uncertain. Although a normal pattern is very reassuring about fetal condition, the predictive value of an abnormal pattern is low. In most studies the use of CTG has been associated with an increase in intervention in labour, particularly caesarean section, without clear evidence of benefit. Fetal blood sampling is the most useful associated technique for minimizing unnecessary intervention. The relationship between fetal heart rate, fetal blood pH changes and long‐term outcome remains obscure and further work to clarify this relationship is urgently needed.