The relationship between uterine contractions, fetal movements and fetal heart rate patterns in the active phase of labor

Influence of the Fetal Scalp Electrode Stimulation Test on Fetal Heart Rate and Body Movements in Quiet and Active Behavioral States During Labor

“…The figures for FHR accelerations accompanied by FMs (74.6% for the active state group and 77.6% for the quiet state group) were in accordance with a previous study. 16 In addition, we compared the first, 2-to 5, and 6-to 10-minute intervals after the stimulation with the corresponding ones before stimulation in the control active state group. This control period should reflect the intrinsic properties of this relationship in the unstimulated fetus.…”

True vs Spurious Intrapartum Fetal Heart Rate Accelerations on the Cardiotocograph (CTG): An Urgent Need for Caution

“…Moreover, it takes approximately 90 seconds for the reduced fetal oxygenation during a contraction to recover to its pre contraction levels [19]. Therefore, whilst it is usual for a fetus to show accelerations coinciding with uterine contractions in early labour [20] it is very unlikely to show repetitive accelerations during ongoing strong and sustained uterine contraction in late labour when fetal oxygen saturation would be reduced. This is because a fetus in late labour would attempt to normalise it's oxygenation saturation immediately after the contraction, and then may show accelerations secondary to the gross body movements during the inter-contraction interval when there is sufficient oxygen available the perfuse the central organs and to move the somatic muscles.…”