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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

FHR Auscultation terminology

I am reading AWHONN's publication on fetal heart rate auscultation. I think I would love to make it a mission of mine to teach nurses and hospitals more about the benefits and safety of this method of listening to the baby's heart rate. So, for my own studies, I thought I'd include some info here. First off, we need to define what normal(or category I)characteristics for the fetal heart rate would be if using the auscultation method would be.

These characteristics include:
1. A baseline fetal heart rate between 110-160 bpm
2. A regular rhythm
3. The presense of increases or accelerations from the baseline rate
4. No decreases or decelerations from the baseline

Indeterminate or Category II characteristics include:

1. Irregular rhythm
2. Decreases or decelerations from the baseline
3. Tachycardia(baseline >160 bpm >10m in duration)
4. Bradycardia(<110 bpm >10m in duration)

Normal fetal heart rate characteristics are associated with a well oxygenated baby. Indeterminate simply means that one or more characteristics is not normal. This describes the data obtained, but does not necessarily apply to fetal or newborn status.

I would think that an indetermintate status would lead a clinician to obtain more accurate data to determine the status of the baby.

1 comment:

Melanie said...

Can you tell me what a foetal heartrate of over 190bpm with little to no variation means?

No-one at the time told me exactly what this means, and so I wonder was the C/S really necessary and would everything have been ok if I had birthed vaginally.

Birth is a Journey: Does it have to be life changing?


  • One woman might have to climb on an overfilled boat, risking her life and nearly dying as she escapes over the ocean to come to this land. This experience could certainly be life altering. It may very well color the rest of her life, positively or negatively. (I overcame this amazing struggle and here I am triumphant! OR Holy crap, that was SO hard I don’t know if I can go on! By the way, neither response is “right”. No one would judge the woman with the 2nd response.)
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  • One woman may learn to fly an ultra-light plane to lead a flock of geese into America teaching them to migrate. This experience could certainly be empowering and life altering.