Fetal recoil during labor to evaluate fetal well-being when heart rate monitoring is not informative.
BACKGROUND
Fetal movement is a predictor of fetal well-being. Fetal movement in response to a stimulation (fetal recoil) has been tested, and all fetuses that demonstrated recoil had umbilical arterial blood pH at least 7.20.


METHODS
We used fetal recoil to allow labor in three women with fetal heart tracings that were not informative. In all three, Apgar scores or umbilical artery pH values confirmed normal fetal acid-base status at birth.


CONCLUSIONS
Fetal recoil is a potentially useful method to assess fetal status when fetal heart rate monitoring is not informative.
Elliott
J P
JP
Phoenix Perinatal Associates, Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, Arizona, USA.
Clewell
W H
WH
Hutson
E
E
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D001034:Apgar Score; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry; D005316:Fetal Distress / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005323:Fetal Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005324:Fetal Movement; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D013216:Reflex, Startle; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014732:Vibration