Fetal heart rate monitoring is an important part of prenatal care. Fetal heart rate is an important indicator of fetal health; a heart rate that falls within the healthy range of 110 to 160 beats per minute indicates that the fetal heart is pumping at a normal level and receiving an adequate supply of blood and oxygen. For this reason, physicians monitor fetal heart rate throughout a pregnancy. Any abnormality in heart rate could serve as an early warning sign, allowing a doctor to catch a potential health problem much earlier in the pregnancy.
Important Benefits of Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring
Fetal heart rate monitoring also has emotional benefits for parents. Being able to hear the heartbeat of their unborn child is immensely reassuring for parents, and allows them to feel a close bond with their baby. Many parents feel that prenatal care appointments do not occur frequently enough to allow them to listen to their babys heartbeat as often as they would like. Recently, businesses offering in-home fetal monitors have appeared, often started by parents previously frustrated by the unavailability of in-home monitors.
Fetal heart rate monitoring works using doppler ultrasound. The monitor aims low-level sound waves toward the fetus; they are transmitted through the mothers abdomen via a special, conductive gel. When these sound waves reach the fetus they are bounced back to the monitor that translates the disturbance in their path into an audible heartbeat.
In-home dopplers work much the same way as their medical counterparts; however, their design allows them to be used by parents with no special training. Most models are hand-held and can be easily and accurately used by one person. Heart rate is calculated internally and displayed on an easy-to-read digital screen. Many in-home Dopplers offer the option of recording the fetal heartbeat so parents can share their excitement with friends and family.
