The 2008 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Report on Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring

Abstract

Standardization of fetal heart rate (FHR) interpretation and management guidelines has been elusive, and no system is currently widely accepted in the United States. The recently summarized 2008 Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development workshop proposed a three-tier system of interpretation of FHR patterns, but left management recommendations to the professional associations. The middle tier, called indeterminate Category II, which contains the variant FHR patterns seen most frequently, is vast and heterogeneous. We propose that this category can be subcategorized at least tentatively, based on evidence available from previously published studies. Such subcategorization will allow the organizations proposing management recommendations to more readily set up guidelines for graded interventions and clinical responses to the spectrum of FHR patterns, with the aim of minimizing fetal acidemia without excessive obstetric intervention. Such management algorithms will need to be tested by appropriately designed clinical studies.