Complexity of fetal traces and the potential of artifact

An awareness for the complexity of fetal traces and the potential of artifact is vitally important for professionals using electronic fetal monitoring devices.

In a busy daily routine, specific fetal trace characteristics may be missed, leading to unexpected or even fatal outcomes. One of the most common events is unintentional – recording of the maternal blood vessel pulsation instead of the fetal heart.

Read the case study in which clinicians confused the maternal pulse and fetal heart rates in a 21-year-old pregnant woman in labor.