Causes of weak fetal heart rate

If the fetal heart rate is weak, you must understand the specific reasons. A weak fetal heart rate may be related to some diseases. For example, the baby suffers from hypoxia, which is an important cause of fetal heart rate abnormalities. You must not be careless at this time. You must do a check-up in time and understand the specific situation. As a pregnant woman, you must pay more attention to your daily routine, especially to get enough sleep. Let's take a look at this aspect.

Causes of weak fetal heart rate

Generally speaking, the fetal heart rate can be measured by instruments as early as the 10th week of pregnancy. Currently, the more commonly used high-sensitivity Doppler instrument can hear the heartbeat like the sound of horse hooves when the fetus is 10 or 12 weeks old. However, some hospitals may use a regular stethoscope, in which case the fetal heartbeat cannot be tracked until 17-18 weeks.

The normal fetal heart rate is regular and strong, like the ticking of a clock. It is normal if it is between 120 beats/minute and 160 beats/minute, so expectant mothers can rest assured. If the fetal heart rate remains <120>160 for more than 10 minutes, it indicates that the fetal heart rate is abnormal. If the fetal heart rate is <120 times>160 times/minute, you can repeat the listening once every 10-20 minutes. If it is still abnormal, it indicates fetal intrauterine hypoxia. If the fetal heart rate is within the abnormal range and accompanied by irregular fetal heart rhythm, it indicates that the fetal hypoxia is more serious. Once an abnormal fetal heart rate is detected, the expectant mother should seek medical attention immediately and not be careless or delay.

If the fetal heart rate is weak, it may be because the expectant mother stayed up late and did not get enough sleep the day before the fetal heart monitoring, or was overly tired and did not eat breakfast that day. Also, before fetal heart monitoring, you should lie down in bed and calm down, wait for a few minutes before performing fetal heart monitoring. The fetal position during fetal heart monitoring and the position captured by the instrument are also key. Incorrect position will also lead to weak fetal heart rate. If everything is normal but the fetal heart rate is lower than 120 or higher than 160, it means the fetal heart rate is weak and the fetus is likely to be suffering from hypoxia. If you feel chest tightness and difficulty breathing, please seek medical attention immediately. The doctor will give you oxygen or appropriate treatment depending on the situation.

How to read fetal heart rate monitoring chart

Fetal heart rate monitoring is an important prenatal examination item in the late pregnancy. When pregnant women do fetal heart rate monitoring, they can intuitively see the changes in fetal heart rate from the fetal heart rate monitoring chart to ensure that the fetus is in good condition.

There will be two curves on the fetal heart rate monitoring graph, one records the changes in fetal heart rate, and the other records the uterine contractions. Under normal circumstances, the fetal heart rate will be maintained at 120~160 beats/minute. The fetal heart rate will be faster when the fetus is active than when it is resting (at least 15 beats per minute faster) and last for at least 15 seconds. This normal situation is called "fetal heart rate monitoring reaction type", which is the result that every pregnant mother hopes to get.

If the fetal heart rate does not increase when the fetus moves, or there is no fetal movement at all during fetal heart monitoring, this means that the fetus may be in an abnormal condition (such as hypoxia or placental problems, etc.). This situation is called "unresponsive type" and the pregnant woman needs to do fetal heart monitoring again after 1 hour, or do other further examinations.

When pregnant women undergo fetal heart monitoring during prenatal checkups, there is a special set of scoring standards with a total score of 10. A score of 8 or above is considered normal, while a score below 8 requires further observation and diagnosis.