What is a Category 3 fetal heart rate?

NICHD Category III (CIII) fetal heart rate tracing (FHR) is defined as having either sinusoidal pattern or absent baseline variability plus recurrent late decelerations, recurrent variable decelerations, or bradycardia.

What are the categories of fetal heart rate?

Fetal heart rate patterns are classified as reassuring, nonreassuring or ominous. Nonreassuring patterns such as fetal tachycardia, bradycardia and late decelerations with good short-term variability require intervention to rule out fetal acidosis.

What is a Category 1 fetal heart rate?

Category I : Normal. The fetal heart rate tracing shows ALL of the following: Baseline FHR 110-160 BPM, moderate FHR variability, accelerations may be present or absent, no late or variable decelerations, may have early decelerations. Strongly predictive of normal acid-base status at the time of observation.

What percentage of term laboring patients have a Category II FHR tracing?

Over the course of labor, category I patterns were present 78 percent of the time, category II patterns were present 22 percent of the time, and category III patterns were present 0.004 percent of the time.

What is the baseline fetal heart rate?

The normal range for baseline FHR is defined by NICHD as 110 to 160 beats per minute (bpm; Online Figure A). A change in baseline FHR is said to occur when the change persists for 10 minutes or longer. A baseline of less than 110 bpm is defined as bradycardia.

What is fetal heart rate baseline?

Normal baseline fetal heart rate (FHR), shown at 135 beats per minute (bpm). Normal baseline rate ranges from 110 to 160 bpm for a 10-minute segment and duration ≥ 2 minutes. Excludes periodic and episodic changes, marked variability, and segments differing by ≥ 25 bpm.

What is abnormal fetal heart rate?

The average fetal heart rate is between 110 and 160 beats per minute. It can vary by 5 to 25 beats per minute. The fetal heart rate may change as your baby responds to conditions in your uterus. An abnormal fetal heart rate may mean that your baby is not getting enough oxygen or that there are other problems.

What is considered a deceleration in fetal heart rate?

A deceleration is a decrease in the fetal heart rate below the fetal baseline heart rate. An early deceleration is defined as a waveform with a gradual decrease and return to baseline with time from onset of the deceleration to the lowest point of the deceleration >30 seconds.

How frequently should a FHR Category I tracing be reviewed in a low risk patient in the second stage of labor?

In a patient without compli- cations, the FHR tracing should be reviewed approxi- mately every 30 minutes in the first stage of labor and every 15 minutes during the second stage.

What are the 2 most important characteristics of the FHR?

There are two features that should always be assessed: The baseline fetal heart rate. The presence or absence of decelerations: If present, the relation of the deceleration to the contraction must be determined. It is very important to compare the timing of the contraction to the timing of the deceleration.

What happens if baby’s heart rate is too high?

If the heart beats too fast, contractions are shallow and not enough blood is pumped with each heartbeat. As a result, the fetus can go into heart failure. The most common form of this condition is called supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), in which the heart rate can be faster than 200 beats per minute.

What is the normal heart rate of a fetus?

A normal fetal heart rate (FHR) usually ranges from 120 to 160 beats per minute (bpm) in the in utero period. It is measurable sonographically from around 6 weeks and the normal range varies during gestation, increasing to around 170 bpm at 10 weeks and decreasing from then to around 130 bpm at term.

What is the average fetal heart rate?

Normal fetal heart rate can vary somewhat throughout the stages of pregnancy, but the average fetus has a heart rate of about 85 beats per minute (bpm) when the heart first begins to beat at five weeks gestation. Fetal heart rate can speed to a rate of up to 175 bpm by nine weeks gestation,…

What does low fetal heart rate mean?

Low fetal heart rate, also called bradycardia , is the term used when an unborn baby’s heart displays fewer than 110 beats per minute. In most cases, it is a temporary situation, though the cause usually needs to be determined in order for the issue to be treated.

Can fetal heart rate predict a miscarriage?

A fetal heart rate below 70 beats per minute around 6-8 weeks usually predicts a miscarriage. A fetal heart rate below 90 beats per minutes is associated with a 86% miscarriage rate, and a fetal heart rate below 120 bpm is associated with an approximately 50% miscarriage rate.

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