Monitoring of babies’ heart rates during labour using mobile monitors
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Determining the predictive utility of short-term variation (STV) of fetal heart rate (FHR) for fetal acidaemia, and the feasibility of using this for decision making in high-risk women during labour
IRAS ID
225042
Contact name
Habiba Kapaya
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
During labour, babies can become distressed if oxygen levels drop and they may need urgent delivery. Currently, babies of mothers with high-risk pregnancies are continuously monitored using cardiotocography (CTG) during labour. Women having continuous CTG monitoring have to lie down, and CTG is problematic in obese women. Monitoring with continuous CTG has no effect on overall baby death rate or babies born with brain damage.
Moving around during labour can help labour progress and reduce the need for pain relief. A lightweight portable monitor (Monica AN24) has been developed that safely records the baby’s heart-rate for up to 20 hours, regardless of the mother’s weight and movement. It also records short-term variation (STV) of the heart-rate, which cannot be detected with current CTG monitors used in the NHS practice.
The STV is lower in babies with low oxygen levels, so a drop in the STV number can be a sign that a baby is distressed. Currently, there is no accurate information on whether STV can reliably identify a distressed baby or on the best ‘cut-off’ number of STV below which delivery is needed. In this study, 200 women will use the monitor to record the baby’s STV and standard heart-rate.
Decisions about care during labour will be made using the standard heart-rate data from the monitor. The STV data recorded by the monitor will be downloaded after birth and analysed together with information collected about the health of the baby. In this way, we can see whether the STV match the risk of harm from low oxygen levels in labour.
The results from this study will help us design a future study to test whether the STV determined by the Monica AN24 can better identify babies at risk of harm from low oxygen levels in labour, and so offer the mother an urgent delivery.
REC name
London - Fulham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/1236
Date of REC Opinion
19 Jul 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion