Unborn baby's heart rate dropping and then stabilising, aibu to be worried?

[LizaSimpson]

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice from a midwife or someone whose been through it so I don't stay up all night worrying.

I went in to hospital tonight with reduced movements and a weird tightening sensation every now and then whilst on the monitor baby's heart rate dipped down to 80/85 three times but the dips happened when I felt this tightening so they monitored me for another hour and baby stabilised and I didn't feel the tightening during that time.

They were happy and didn't need to monitor me anymore but booked me in for a scan tomorrow morning.

I'm just a bit worried because baby's heart rate dropped during the tightening and didn't when it wasn't happening so now when I feel it tighten I'm worried something happening with baby's heart or putting them in distress

Will the scan pick up on any issues, is there anything I need to watch out for in the meantime?

I know not everyone's a medical professional but when I asked the midwife she just said babies are unpredictable which is fair enough but I just thought I'd ask if someone had a similar experience or if I'm being silly being worried because they weren't.

Thank you

I'd go back in to hospital and demand another scan if that were me and I wasn't convinced by their answer.

Did they tell you what the tightening was? Could it be braxton hicks or something?

That happened to all 5 of my babies during every contraction . They said it was normal . Maybe something similar ?

How many weeks are you?

How many weeks are you? The most likely outcome is everything is find but If you’re worried about reduced movements again then I’d be tempted to go back.

Im a midwife and yes, that does sound normal practice.

Not all ‘dips’ in babies heart rates are bad, some are normal. It’s hard to explain without writing a small essay but what you’re describing sounds normal and I would also have discharged you home based on what you’re saying (although obviously I haven’t seen your ctg personally). Just make sure you return if you have any further concerns re reduced movement

Did they think the tightening was braxton hicks? Head compression from a contraction or tightening will cause a normal physiological response of a fall in heart rate. If it lines up on a ctg with contractions then it’s an early deceleration and considered normal in a labouring ctg. not considered normal in a non labouring ctg. however for it to be a deceleration it needs to fall from the baseline for 15 seconds or more. Do you know how long the hr dipped for? Was the trace reviewed by a doctor?

During contractions, baby's heart rate always drops, then stabilises. This is normal.

You can help yourself and your baby by taking in lots of oxygen by breathing deeply during this time.

If you are having a gut feeling something isn't right, then go back to the hospital and get a second opinion.

Your body, your baby, your rules.

Thank you everyone.

I'm 29w 3d so hopefully they aren't contractions.

The midwife spoke to doctor and he said to give it another hour and it thankfully stabilised but I have the scan tomorrow.

It could also be a little bit of cord compression if the cord is temporarily in a position where it’s getting a bit squashed. Sounds scary but they’re designed to cope with this. So they’d have looked at recovery time and also what we call the variability of the trace which is how much it spikes up and down close to the baseline. Variability is good, a flat trace isn’t good. So I’d assume they were happy if they sent you home.

@LizaSimpson how was your scan?

Oh sorry I forgot to come back and update.

Thank you for asking, she's absolutely fine they think when I had the tightening it was squeezing the cord a little bit which caused her heart rate to drop but she's happy and very healthy weighing 3lbs 10oz (I know scans aren't accurate haha) but she's cooking away nicely.