Fetal behavioral states are defined by fetal movement and heart rate variability (HRV). At 32 weeks of gestational age (GA) the distinction of four fetal behavioral states represented by combinations of quiet or active sleep or awakeness is possible. Prior to 32 weeks, only periods of fetal activity and quiesence can be distinguished. The increasing synchronization of fetal movement and HRV ref...

Analysis of movement activity is important since it enables detection of nonreactive fetal heart rate recordings. The aim of the study was to develop an algorithm for automated detection of the fetal movement activity (actogram), based on analysis of the Doppler ultrasound signal, and to evaluate a reliability of the actogram as a source of information about the fetal movements. Bandpass filter...

Gross fetal movement was detected using a lower frequency ultrasonic Doppler shift than that used in the study of fetal heart action. The movement signal was changed into deflection which was recorded on CTG chart simultaneously with the fetal heart rate (FHR), and was called the fetal actocardiogram. Visual analysis of the actocardiogram showed bursts of active fetal movements in the active fe...

The enigmatic quality of the maternal-fetal relationship has been extolled throughout history with little empirical support. We apply time series analysis to data for 137 maternal-fetal pairs collected at 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, and 38 weeks gestation. Maternal heart rate and skin conductance data were digitized in tandem with fetal heart rate and motor activity. No temporal relations between fetal...

Until 25 years ago the only possible way of communicating with the "intrauterine" inmate apart from the fetal movements observed by the mother herself, was by auscultation of the fetal heart beats with a simple stethoscope. The following statement made by the two English pediatricians DOBBS and GAIRDNER in 1966 sums up the situation [23]. "Up to now the formidable inaccessibility of the human f...

Longitudinal neurobehavioral development was examined in 237 fetuses of low-risk pregnancies from 2 distinct populations--Baltimore, Maryland, and Lima. Peru--at 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, and 38 weeks gestation. Data were based on digitized Doppler-based fetal heart rate (FHR) and fetal movement (FM). In both groups. FHR declined while variability, episodic accelerations, and FM-FHR coupling increase...