Fetal Monitoring During Labor

Your health care providers will monitor your baby’s heart rate while you are in labor to be sure the baby is doing well. If anything goes wrong, changes in the baby's heart rate act as a warning.

Caregivers can monitor the baby in several ways. External monitoring can be done by listening through the abdominal wall by means of a stethoscope or ultrasound. Internal monitors can measure both the baby’s heart rate and the strength of your contractions.