Maternity Nursing: Intrapartum Q 35

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A laboring client has external electronic fetal monitoring in place. Which of the following assessment data can be determined by examining the fetal heart rate strip produced by the external electronic fetal monitor?

  

     A. Gender of the fetus

     B. Fetal position

     C. Labor progress

     D. Oxygenation

    

    

Correct Answer: D. Oxygenation

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Oxygenation of the fetus may be indirectly assessed through fetal monitoring by closely examining the fetal heart rate strip. Accelerations in the fetal heart rate strip indicate good oxygenation, while decelerations in the fetal heart rate sometimes indicate poor fetal oxygenation.

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Option A: In the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, ultrasound imaging scans the genital anatomy of the fetus to identify its gender. In the early studies conducted on the use of ultrasound results for identifying the fetal gender, a male fetus was demonstrated by the presence of a scrotum and a penis, and a female fetus by the absence of these organs.

Option B: Ultrasonography is noninvasive and has been found to be more accurate for assessing position of the fetal head, during labor. Recent studies by Sherer et al., Chou et al., Dupuis et al., and Zahalka et al. have shown that ultrasound scanning is a quick and efficient way of increasing the accuracy of the assessment of fetal head position during the second stage of labor.

Option C: Recently, intrapartum transperineal ultrasound for the assessment of fetal head descent has been introduced to assess labor progress in the first stage of labor in a more objective and non-invasive way.

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