Coincidence of behavioural state parameters in the human fetus at three gestational ages

Temporal organization of fetal behavior from 24-weeks gestation onwards in normal and complicated pregnancies

“…Before 39 weeks gestation, FHRP was generally the first variable to change during 1F to 2F transitions, but the last one during transitions from 2F to 1F, as previously published by others (Arduini et al, 1989;Arduini et al, 1991;Groome et al, 1996;Swartjes et al, 1990). After 39 weeks gestation, EM was the last variable to change during transitions from 2F to 1F but we failed to find a leading variable during 1F to 2F transitions.…”

“…Third, we determined the sequence of change of state variables from the drawn-up profiles (smallest time resolution ϭ 30 s). Thus, variables could change simultaneously and have tied ranks, which also occurred in the study by Groome et al (1996) but not in other studies (Arduini et al, 1989;Arduini et al, 1991;Nijhuis et al, 1998;Swartjes et al, 1990). The latter suggests that state changes were analyzed differently.…”

“…This means that state changes could be studied for only two instead of three variables. However, it is obvious from presently available data that the changes in FHRP and GM do not always coincide, which suggests that FHRP and GM are presumably controlled by separate parts of the fetal central nervous system (current study; Swartjes et al, 1990). Third, we determined the sequence of change of state variables from the drawn-up profiles (smallest time resolution ϭ 30 s).…”

“…However, it must be realized that the numbers of transitions analyzed among the various studies were generally small, which, together with the undermentioned methodological differences, may have contributed to the equivocal results. First, in the present study and those by Nijhuis et al (1998) and Swartjes et al (1990), only transitions lasting Յ 3 min were analyzed, whereas three other studies also comprised nonsynchronized transitions (Arduini et al, 1989;Arduini et al, 1991;Groome et al, 1996). Second, simultaneous monitoring of FHR and automatic detection of fetal movements by using an actocardiotocograph made it impossible to independently evaluate FHRP and GM (Groome et al, 1996).…”

“…The methods employed included analysis of both short-term (Timor-Tritsch, Dierker, Hertz, Deagan, & Rosen, 1978;Visser, PoelmannWeesjes, Cohen, & Bekedam, 1987) and long-term association between two or three state variables. The latter association, assessed with the moving window technique, was characterized by the proportions of coincidence and no coincidence (Groome, Benanti, Bentz, & Singh, 1996;Nijhuis, Martin, & Prechtl, 1984;Nijhuis et al, 1982), the linkage of pairs of state parameters expressed as a 'ratio' (Drogtrop, Ubels, & Nijhuis, 1990;Nijhuis & van de Pas, 1992), the occurrence of so-called insertions (Groome et al, 1996), or the sequence and duration of change of state variables during transitions (Arduini et al, 1989;Arduini, Rizzo, Massacesi, Romanini, & Mancuso, 1991;Groome et al, 1996;Nijhuis, van de Pas, & Jongsma, 1998;Swartjes, van Geijn, Mantel, van Woerden, & Schoemaker, 1990). Some of these methods have also been used to assess fetal behavioral organization in complicated pregnancies (Arduini et al, 1989;Gazzolo et al, 1998;Mulder, Visser, Bekedam, & Prechtl, 1987;van Vliet, Martin, Nijhuis, & Prechtl, 1985).…”