Fetal distress - Definition and Overview

In medicine (obstetrics), fetal distress is the presence of signs in a pregnant woman - before or during childbirth - that the fetus is not well or is becoming excessively fatigued.

Fetal distress frequently results in more distress for the parents than for the fetus. In a modern hospitals the diagnosis generally results in a flurry of remedial activity. Often the mother and her partner can do little but watch on and passively consent to whatever the health professionals are recommending. Attempts to reassure the parents that 'everything will be fine' are difficult to accept in the presence of the sudden sense of urgency and crowd of concerned new faces that rapidly arrive in the delivery room. Thankfully for parents in this situation, the anxiety is very short lived, as a healthly baby is generally delivered and united with its parents.

Signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms of fetal distress include:

• Decreased movement felt by the mother
• Meconium in the amniotic fluid
• cardiotocography signs
  • increased or decreased fetal heart rate (tachycardia and bradycardia), especially during and after a contraction
  • decreased varibility in the fetal heart rate
• biochemical signs, assesed by collecting a small sample of baby's blood from a scalp prick through the open cervix in labour
  • fetal acidosis
  • elevated fetal blood lactate levels indicating the baby has a lactic acidosis

Causes

There are many causes of fetal distress.

Treatment

In many situations fetal distress will lead the obstetrician to recommend steps to urgently deliver the baby. This can be done by induction, or in more urgent cases, a Caesarean section may be performed.