Fetal monitoring

Research on fetal monitoring centers on how a baby's heart rate is checked during labor. A systematic review and network meta-analysis examines intrapartum fetal surveillance and maternal and neonatal outcomes, and a review of intermittent auscultation looks at listening to the fetal heart rate in labour for fetal well-being. Reference works cover intrapartum fetal monitoring, fetal heart rate auscultation, and the future of electronic fetal monitoring.

Other papers look at practice and experience. A qualitative study explores maternity providers' views on barriers to intermittent monitoring, an Australian national survey analyzes women's experiences of labour by type of monitoring, and a recent paper examines why continuous fetal monitoring persists when evidence has not changed practice. An S3 guideline on vaginal birth at term is also discussed for what it changed in intrapartum fetal monitoring.

Parents frequently ask why they are being monitored, whether they can move around, and what the tracing means. The research continues to look at how different approaches affect outcomes and how they feel to the person in labor.

In class, an educator may want slides that explain what each method is and does, and that reflect both the clinical evidence and parents' experience. The papers below are the ones the Hub tracks on this topic.