Fetal Movement Assessment

Maternal perception of fetal movements is the oldest and most commonly used method to assess fetal well-being. While almost all pregnant women adhere to it, organized screening by fetal movements has seen variable popularity among health professionals. Early results of screening were promising and f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Seminars in perinatology 2008-08, Vol.32 (4), p.243-246
Main Authors: Frøen, J. Frederik, MD, PhD, Heazell, Alexander E.P., MBChB(Hons), Tveit, Julie Victoria Holm, MD, Saastad, Eli, RN, Rm, MSc, Fretts, Ruth C., MD, MPH, Flenady, Vicki, RN, Rm, MMedSc
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Female
Fetal Death - diagnosis
Fetal Death - prevention & control
fetal monitoring
Fetal Movement
Humans
methods
Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine
Pregnancy
Stillbirth
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Summary:Maternal perception of fetal movements is the oldest and most commonly used method to assess fetal well-being. While almost all pregnant women adhere to it, organized screening by fetal movements has seen variable popularity among health professionals. Early results of screening were promising and fetal movement counting is the only antepartum testing method that has shown effect in reducing mortality in a randomized controlled trial comparing testing versus no testing. Although awareness of fetal movements is associated with improved perinatal outcomes, the quest to define a quantitative “alarm limit” to define decreased fetal movements has so far been unsuccessful, and the use of most such limits developed for fetal movement counting should be discouraged.
ISSN:0146-0005
1558-075X
DOI:10.1053/j.semperi.2008.04.004