Overview
As baby grows inside the womb of mother, heart and other organs develop. The heart activity can be recorded by placing a transducer on the belly of mother. The tracing obtain provides information about heart rate, any increase or decrease in heart rate and how much it varies with time. Variation in heart rate along with increase is indicator of fetal well being. Some mothers are at high risk of pre-term birth that is baby delivery before 37 weeks of gestation. In such cases steroids are given to mother to accelerate lung development of the baby so that it can easily adapt to outside world. Dexamethasone and Betamethasone are commonly used steroids which can also effect fetal heart activity.
Description
Some patients are at high risk of Pre term birth and therefore they are advised antenatal steroids which facilitates fetal lung development preparing it for smoother transition for extra-uterine life. Dexamethasone and Betamethasone are commonly used for this purpose but differently effect fetal cardiac activity as evident by CTG changes and awareness of these phenomena would prevent iatrogenic delivery of preterm fetuses.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- History of pre term labor
- Preterm pre labor rupture of membranes
- Third trimester bleeding due to placenta previa
Exclusion Criteria:
- IUGR
- Uteroplacental insufficiency
- Oligohydroamnios
- Maternal drug therapy that can effect fetal heart rate
- Contraindications to Intramuscular injections
- Patients admitted with non reassuring CTG