Motherhood is the most awesome and exciting yet risky stage in a womans life. Nowadays, every mother is exposed to the fact that technology has become a custom part in delivering a baby in the hospital. Another big advancement in health technology is the invention of fetal monitors which is great for checking on the heartbeat of the baby. The fetal monitors are greatly employed in various hospitals and obstetrics clinics. In order to accommodate the growing demand in health, neonatal and obstetrics services, various companies and manufacturers create and sell different types of fetal monitors.
In accordance with this, during labor the fetal heart rates are regularly traced to make sure that there are no major complications and bothersome changes that would lead to an emergency Cesarean delivery. However, monitoring heart rates alone does not always supply an adequate amount of information about risk. Science has paved its way through the introduction of fetal oxygen monitoring or fetal pulse oximetry. The fetal oxygen monitoring has great benefits and advantages that would help physicians assess the seriousness of a change in the heartbeat of the fetus by means of providing additional information about the condition and well being of the baby. If the fetus happened to have an abnormal heart rate but has good oxygen levels, the doctors might not be able to perform a caesarean operation during delivery. On the other hand, fetal oxygen monitoring has its own fair share of critics. A new study was released stating that fetal oxygen monitoring tested on more than 5,341 fetuses in womans womb during labor had no apparent benefit in interpreting abnormal fetal heart rates. One of the researchers in a National Institute of Health reported that a new technology such as fetal oxygen monitoring for measuring the oxygen level of the baby during labor offers no apparent benefit. The fetal oxygen monitoring was considered for use along with electronic fetal monitoring that tracks the fetal heart rate to measure changes in fetal oxygen levels. The discoverer of fetal oxygen monitoring anticipates that knowing the oxygen status of the baby during labor would provide essential information on the well being of the baby, particularly when there were disturbances in the fetal heart rate during labor. Furthermore, the authors of the current studies over fetal oxygen monitoring commence their research to try to find if there was valuable reason to guarantee the introduction and utilization of fetal oxygen monitoring into the delivery room however the study of the fetal oxygen monitoring was indecisive and that the study found no overall change in Caesarean delivery rates when fetal oxygen monitoring was undertaken. However, the study found different rates of Caesarean deliveries for two different categories of births. For cases in which the fetal heart rate pattern was abnormal, there were fewer Caesarean deliveries than normal. Some experts also say that the findings over the study of fetal oxygen monitoring do not have much impact on the obstetric practice. Dr. Michael Divon, chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City quotes that, the fetal oxygen monitoring is not a widespread technology at the U.S. it also becomes somewhat irrelevant because so many C-sections are not obligatory. It is very difficult to come up with a technology like fetal oxygen monitoring which decreases the C-section rate when so many are being done just because the patients want it.
Today, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new type of fetal oxygen monitoring instrument. The piece of equipment is used to measure fetal oxygen in fetal oxygen monitoring study. This device was conditionally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in year 2000 for use as an accessory to electronic fetal monitoring. Electronic fetal monitoring remains the most widely used tool to evaluate the health of a baby during delivery. Much of the concern has to do with preventing cerebral palsy, which had been thought to be due to a lack of oxygen during labor. Fetal pulse oximetry or fetal oxygen monitoring had been urbanized and developed over a decade and created a celebrated issue in obstetrics circles. Traditional and established monitors today are used to measure fetal heart rate and uterine contractions. Health providers used these measurements together with other factors to help determine and decide if labor can continue normally or if a caesarean delivery is indicated. The new fetal oxygen monitoring device represents the first major technological development in fetal monitoring since electronic fetal monitoring was established and recognized in 1960 and 1970. The latest fetal oxygen monitoring system is only to be used along with conventional electronic fetal monitoring when the fetal heart rate indicates that the baby may be in distress due to lack of adequate oxygen. Moreover, fetal oxygen monitoring system is intended for single use only, not multiple fetuses of at least 36 weeks gestation, where the mothers water has broken and the fetal head is in the normal vertex position for delivery. The latest fetal oxygen monitoring device is composed of a fetal sensor that emits and detects red and infrared light, a connecting cable, and a microprocessor-controlled monitoring console. The monitor displays fetal oxygen saturation as the percentage of oxygen in the fetus blood. The application of this fetal oxygen monitoring system is greatly reliable and safe. The fetal oxygen monitor sensor is inserted into the mothers uterus and placed against the fetus temple or cheek. The recommendation of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Devices Panel of FDAs Medical Devices Advisory Committee and Mallinckrodts were the basis of FDA to approve this fetal oxygen monitoring system.
In Mallinckrodts major study, 508 women were observed with the fetal oxygen monitoring system and 502 women received standard labor management without the fetal oxygen monitoring system. Women examined with the fetal oxygen monitoring system were allowed to continue labor when the fetus had a non-reassuring heart rate and if the device showed that the fetal oxygen saturation was above 30 percent. The study considered whether use of this new fetal oxygen monitoring system would reduce the Cesarean-section rate due to non- reassuring fetal heart rate. Still, fetal oxygen monitoring are greatly employed in various hospitals today to assess the well being of the baby and to determine whether the pregnant woman will undergo caesarean operation or a normal delivery even though the traced heart rate of the baby is abnormal. Fetal heart rate monitoring and fetal oxygen monitoring always goes hand in hand. Normally, the heart rate of the baby is continuously being monitored during labor as well as the uterine contraction of the mother. The heart rate of the baby goes up and down every time he moves and it changes constantly every minute.
When contraction occurs, the amount of blood to the baby goes down and there is variability in her oxygen level. A normal baby has fewer problems with contractions unlike with the abnormal one; her heart rate might go down because of insufficient oxygen level. So, regular monitoring of the babys heartbeat is required and usual fetal oxygen monitoring to know the saturation of oxygen in the blood would provide sufficient and necessary information in monitoring the health status of the baby and what type of delivery the mother needs. |
