Modern principles of cardiotocography in childbirth

Abstract

Cardiotocography (CTG) is the main method of assessment of the fetus, which due to its informativeness and stability of the information obtained has almost completely replaced the phonoand electrocardiography of the fetus from the clinical practice. A CTG can be used to monitor the fetus during both pregnancy and delivery. Depending on the presence or absence of risk factors, internal or external CTGs are now used. Knowledge of the basic principles, definitions and concepts of CTG, its classification, as well as accumulated clinical experience, helps to interpret the results obtained and improve the outcomes of childbirth. CTG data should be considered in combination with the clinical situation in order to select the correct management of birth tactics and decide on the method of delivery. A recording made during delivery is a medical document that can be used for a comprehensive assessment of the course of delivery, as well as for legal protection of the clinician in complex situations. However, the method has insufficient specificity regarding the diagnosis of acute hypoxia. At present, there are no methods to accurately predict fetal hypoxia, and therefore, to solve this problem, CTG should be routinely performed on all new mothers. Increased experience with CTG helps to interpret the results and improves the outcome of childbirth. However, the method of delivery is always determined by the clinical situation. Despite the wide practical application of CTG, a number of unresolved issues remain, which requires further development of fetal monitoring methods.

Keywords

• cardiotocography
• hypoxia
• accelerations
• deceleration
• bradycardia