Maternal-fetal examination

| Upon arrival at the hospital, several tests must be performed to confirm that the pregnant woman is in labor and that everything is progressing correctly. We will tell you!

First of all, an abdominal examination is performed to assess the position of the fetus, a vaginal examination to assess the status of the cervix and the integrity of the bag of waters, and a fetal monitoring to check the fetal status, intensity and frequency. of contractions.

What does it consist of

During hospital admission, the examinations are repeated to assess the evolution of labor. The vaginal examinations allow us to know the state of the neck of the womb, it gives us information about the position of the neck, its consistency, its effacement and dilation. It can also tell us if the bag of waters is intact or broken and the height of the uterine head in the pelvis.

If the water bag is broken, the color of the water is also assessed, if they are clear, that is, colorless like tap water or stained, dark or greenish in color. On some occasions, the artificial breaking of the waters to assess the state of these or get a better progression of.

Fetal monitoring

Fetal monitoring gives us a record of the fetal heartbeat and uterine dynamics. If there are no risk factors, monitoring can be done intermittently to allow the pregnant woman to ambulate. In the event of any risk factor or when the patient undergoes epidural anesthesia, constant fetal monitoring is maintained.

This monitoring is usually done by transducers placed on the maternal abdomen, but in certain cases it is necessary to do it through internal transducers placed through the mother's vagina directly into the uterus or on the fetal head.

In addition, maternal blood pressure, pulse, temperature and, in some cases, blood glucose levels are also recorded.

Depending on the evolution of each birth, more or fewer explorations should be done, sometimes the fetal blood pH by obtaining a drop of fetal blood on the head and subsequent analysis of it.