Fetal auscultation: how is it performed and why is it necessary for women in labor and pregnant women

Auscultation of the fetus is necessary to determine the heart tones of a baby in the womb. Also, this method allows you to catch other sound phenomena emanating from the body of a pregnant young lady.

General data

With the help of auscultation of the fetus, the specialist is able to catch:

1. Noises of the uterus( "blowing").
2. Noises of the abdominal aorta( they correspond to those of the young mother).
3. Intestinal sound phenomena( nonrhythmic).

In addition, this method allows you to identify the presence of noise emanating from the womb in the womb.

These noises include:

1. Cardiac sound phenomena of the fetus.
2. Noise of the umbilical vessels.
3. Fetal movements( they are irregular and jerky).

In general, auscultation of the fetus is carried out to ensure that the woman has become pregnant.

Fetal heartbeat study

Fetal heart auscultation is performed by listening to appropriate sound phenomena with a special obstetrical stethoscope.

Equipment

Obstetrical stethoscope has several differences from the instrument used to listen to organs of non-pregnant citizens.

So, it is equipped with a specific funnel, larger in size than the funnel of the "standard" tool. The specialist applies this funnel with a wide end to the patient's abdomen, and narrow - to his own hearing organ. The form of the instrument has remained unchanged for several decades. Today you can meet:

• aluminum equipment;
• plastic equipment;
• wooden equipment( classic obstetrical stethoscope).

How the heartbeat is audible

A specialist is listening to the baby's heartbeat through the abdominal wall of the mother. Fetal heart beat is considered the main indicator of his life. It is through the identification of his character that a specialist can evaluate the state of a child's health.

The procedure assumes the following:

1. The heart tones of a baby in the womb can be heard about the twentieth week of pregnancy.
2. If the gestational age is increased, the specialist has the opportunity to hear more distinct tones.
3. Fetal heart auscultation is performed at each examination of the young lady and during delivery.
4. During fights, the midwife listens to the heartbeat of the baby for every fifteen to twenty minutes.
5. Listening to cardiac tones is carried out in a horizontal position.

In some cases, fetal heart sounds can be heard as early as the eighteenth week of pregnancy.

Relevance of the

During the auscultation of the fetal heart, the specialist determines the heart rate. Also during the procedure, the point of optimal listening of heart tones, the rhythm and nature of the contractions of a small "engine" can be detected.

The deadly tones of the baby in the womb of the mother are listened to in two rhythmic beats.

The strike rate is approximately one hundred and forty per minute. The frequency of cardiac strokes of the mother is half that.

The position of the actual point depends on the position of the baby. So, if the baby is head down, then the heartbeat can be listened to from the left or right side just below the navel - depending on which side of his back is turned.

When there is a multiple pregnancy, which lasts for more than twenty-four weeks, the heartbeat of the fetus is perfectly audible in different parts of the uterus.

Poor audition

Palpitation may be poorly tapped when:

• is watered;
• polyhydramnios;
• abnormal location of the placenta;
• of multiple fertility;
• high motor activity of the baby;
• abnormal thickness of anterior abdominal wall( observed with obesity).

Evaluation of baby heartbeat occurs before and after labor.

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