CTG during pregnancy: a transcript

The longer the gestation period, the more often women have to go to the clinic. Examinations, analyzes, examinations - from all this, at the end of the term, my head begins to feel dizzy. However, all this is necessary to control the condition of the fetus and women as well. Therefore, in the third trimester, such a procedure as cardiotocography (CTG) is provided. During pregnancy, it allows you to find out the heart rate of a child and not only.

Term

Cardiotocography, also called CTG, is a continuous synchronous recording of the heart rate of the fetus and uterine tone. The data obtained as a result of CTG are presented in the form of graphic images on a special tape. Since the instrument simultaneously records two indicators, the result on the calibration tape is displayed in two graphs.

In addition to these two indicators, a cardiotocograph can also monitor fetal activity during heart rate recording. During its operation, the device receives data using two sensors: ultrasonic and tensometric. The general principle of the fetal monitor is based on the Doppler effect.

The essence of the research method

Due to the greatest accessibility of the study of the cardiac activity of the fetus in the womb, it became one of the first indicators of assessing its vital activity. At first, they listened to the heart rate simply by putting an ear to the mother’s stomach. Later, a stethoscope was started for these purposes. And only at the end of the 60s, ready of the last century, cardiotocography entered clinical practice.

CTG during pregnancy, both then and now, is recorded using two sensors that are attached to the mother’s stomach. One of them records the frequency of contractions of the heart muscle of the child, the other - the contraction of the uterine walls of the mother. In addition, the device captures the baby's movements. This is necessary in order to find out the reaction of the fetus to uterine contractions.

Types of CTG

Cardiotocography is really a necessary type of study not only in the last stages of pregnancy, but also during childbirth. It is of two types, but women, as a rule, encounter only one of them.

Types of CTG:

• outdoor;
• internal.

External CTG during pregnancy is used when the integrity of the fruit bladder is not broken. In this procedure, both sensors are mounted on the woman’s stomach in places where the signal is best received. As a rule, a strain gauge sensor is applied in the area of ​​the uterine fundus, and an ultrasound probe at the point of stable heart rate reception (depending on the location of the child).

Internal cardiotocography is commonly used during labor when the amniotic fluid bursts. In this case, the general principle of how CTG is done during pregnancy changes dramatically. Instead of sensors, an electrode and a catheter are used to record heart rate and uterine tone. An electrode is placed directly on the baby’s head, and a catheter is inserted into the uterine cavity. It is worth noting that this type of cardiotocography is not widespread, therefore the only study that a woman should prepare for is external CTG during pregnancy.

Indicators

In order to analyze the condition of the fetus, the doctor must evaluate several indicators at once, which are recorded by the fetal monitor. The figures recorded on the printout of the device are unlikely to say anything to a person without a medical education. In order to at least approximately understand the result of the study, you must at least know the standards of CTG during pregnancy.

Indicators for the analysis of CTG:

• The average heart rate.
• Myocardial reflex.
• Variability.
• Periodic fluctuations in heart rate.

All these indicators, which CTG shows during pregnancy, relate directly to the work of the fetal heart muscle. The doctor also looks at the tokogram, which characterizes uterine activity.

Key indications for CTG

The first and main indication for CTG during pregnancy is the timing. Cardiotocography is prescribed to absolutely all pregnant women registered with a health care institution whose gestational age has reached 30-32 weeks of pregnancy. However, some may be assigned earlier. The main indications for this are:

• Negative Rh factor of a pregnant woman’s blood, which can cause the development of hemolytic disease of newborns.
• The presence in the patient's card of information about spontaneous or medical abortions, premature birth.
• Complaints of a pregnant woman about a decrease in fetal activity.
• Complications or pathologies of pregnancy (toxicosis, polyhydramnios, etc.)
• Pathologies of the fetus identified by ultrasound.
• Endocrine and systemic diseases.
• Expiration of the expected term of delivery (postponed pregnancy).

In the absence of CTG indications, up to 32 weeks of pregnancy are usually not prescribed. After this period, the woman will undergo research at each planned visit to the local gynecologist.

Decoding CTG during pregnancy

The decoding of CTG is done by the doctor. However, some gynecologists are so laconic that women try to do this on their own. In fact, a pregnant woman has every right to know about her state of health, so do not be shy to be interested in decoding CTG. During pregnancy, it is very important to clearly understand the possible risks that may arise during childbirth.

After spending some time under the sensors, the woman receives a printout with the graphs that the device compiled. According to these graphs, the condition of the fetus is analyzed based on:

• Basal rhythm. The norm at rest is 110-160 beats / min, with active fetal movement - 140-190 beats / min.
• Variability - 5-25 bpm.
• Acceleration (increased heart rate) - 2-3 times in 15 minutes.
• Deceleration (decrease in heart rate) - normal slowdown of the heart rhythm should be absent or be insignificant in depth and duration.

Norms of CTG during pregnancy allow you to display the result of the study in points, where:

• 0-5 points - fetal hypoxia, urgent need for hospitalization.
• 6-7 points are the first signs of oxygen starvation.
• 8-10 points - all indicators are normal, deviations are absent.

Scoring table

To calculate points, doctors use a special table. Normalized indicators are recorded in it, which shows CTG during pregnancy, and the number of points for each of them.

Table:

What diseases can be detected with CTG?

To understand how important this research method is, you need to find out what CTG shows during pregnancy. The results of cardiotocography reveal a number of fetal pathologies. Moreover, some of them can cause urgent hospitalization of a pregnant woman.

Using CTG, you can identify:

• oxygen starvation (hypoxia);
• the presence of intrauterine infection;
• lack or, conversely, an excess of amniotic fluid;
• fetoplacental insufficiency;
• disorders of the development of the organs of the cardiovascular system, etc.

Due to the abundance of pathologies that can be detected using cardiotocography, women are prescribed CTG during pregnancy. At week 34, the deadline for the initial passage of this procedure, so in the third trimester you should not miss planned visits to the doctor. Otherwise, you can miss a serious disease that can cause fetal death.

CTG during pregnancy: how long does the procedure take?

On average, recording a cardiotocogram lasts about 30-40 minutes. However, this process can increase significantly if bad data is received as a result of the first recording. If the CTG indicators are far from normal, this does not mean that any pathologies are present. Perhaps the baby is just sleeping. Therefore, before the procedure, you need to prepare and bring the baby into an active state.

In order to wake up the baby, you need to visit the pool 1 hour before recording or just walk. Also, do not go on an empty stomach cardiotocography. If we talk about how to do CTG during pregnancy relative to the time of day, then the optimal intervals are from 9 am to 2 pm. As a rule, it is at this time that the fetus is at the peak of activity.

If the child overslept all the time, the procedure will have to be repeated. Therefore, instead of 30 minutes, recording CTG can take up to 2 hours.

Is there any harm from this procedure?

Cardiotocography, just like an ultrasound scan, has no contraindications. Therefore, this procedure is completely safe for both the fetus and the mother. Typically, CTG is recorded in the third trimester 2-3 times a month. But if there is evidence, the study can be conducted much more often, which causes concern in women.

Such fears are groundless. CTG is a very informative type of medical examination. It allows you to identify pregnancy pathologies in the early stages and take timely measures to eliminate them. Therefore, refusing cardiotocography due to prejudice, a woman threatens the health of her child.

Reliability of CTG results

Unfortunately, sometimes there are cases when doctors make an erroneous assessment of the results of CTG. Most often this happens due to the inexperience of a specialist who could not correctly assess the totality of indicators. However, a medical error is not the only reason because of which there is a place for errors in a medical study.

In obstetric practice, cases are mentioned when, in the presence of oxygen starvation, the fetus adapts to it. Therefore, when recording CTG, pathologies of this condition may not be detected. The same phenomenon can be observed if a normal amount of oxygen is present in the bloodstream, but the tissue is not able to adequately accept and apply it, which as a result leads to fetal hypoxia.

However, CTG is not the only research method. If there are doubts about the patient’s diagnosis, additional procedures are prescribed. Only based on a comprehensive examination, doctors can make the correct diagnosis and conduct timely treatment. Therefore, do not immediately worry about the poor performance of cardiotocography. As a rule, if a woman was completely healthy throughout the entire period of pregnancy, an experienced doctor will give her some time to “stir up” the child and rewrite the result.