37wks and baby heart rate monitoring at hospital - please help

[emmywoo]

Hi all
Had midwife check up today and she said that she thought the baby heart rate was quite low, she counted about 105. She said she didnt want to worry me but thought that I should go and be monitored so off I went. Got to hospital and they started the monitoring and a midwife came to see me after 20 mins and said that she was concerned as the heartrate was between 105-140 and was rather static around the 110 mark.
She said she would keep me on for another 20 mins and when she came back she said that was a little concerned and wanted a Dr to see me, by this time hubby and I were worried sick and starting to panic, I even thought that I was going to lose the baby.
Dr came to see me and had a look at the trace and said that everything was fine and we could go home!!!!! I asked why the hell had we been told it was something to worry about and he said he didnt know but said that the trace was fine.
I then rang my midwife when we got home nad she said that if Dr said all was fine that it was and not to worry and that some babies have a lower heartrate base and due to me getting lots of movements she really didnt think there was anything to worry about.
Has anyone else experienced this?
xxx

well, it isn't normal for a baby to have a heartrate of 105, neither is it normal for their heart rate to remain static at 110. The midwife was absolutely right to keep the monitor on until the trace either improved or showed some sign of what the potential problem may be. Sometimes this may take 40 minutes or an hour as babies are known to sleep for up to 40 minutes in the womb. It is absolutely normal procedure for a midwife to ask a doctor to review a trace she feels is non-reassuring as midwives are specialists in normality and doctors deal with the problems. A CTG is a non-perfect way of ascertaining the wellbeing of a fetus, and it is good practice to ask a doctor or a senior colleague to review a trace that you are not sure about. Certainly every baby is different and has a different baseline heart rate, so it is important that your midwife made sure this was normal for your baby before you went home. The presence of fetal movements is a good indicator of your baby's health but the picture may not have been clear until the whole trace was reviewed.
Personally I would be glad that your midwife had been so diligent and not rushed to a premature conclusion. I have no doubt that everything is as it should be and that good practice was followed by her, if not by the doctor who appears to have undermined their colleague's position.

Thanks hun for replying,
I was just a little upset that the midwife at the hospital was telling us that she wasnt happy and something may be wrong and then as soon as the Dr came him he said something completly different. He said that due to the amount of movement showing on the trace and that there were accelarations and deaccelarations and nothing to worry about, I asked about the low base line and he said some have high some have low - just really confused and cant stop worrying.
xx

Check your pulse rate at rest then check your partner's. Are they different? Then run up stairs and check it again. Different again? Everyone has a slightly different base rate, and it changes depending on what you are doing, sleeping, running etc. If you don't stop worrying you run the risk of spoiling what should be a very exciting time in your life and you will never get this time back again. You can't stop bad things from happening by worrying about them (believe me, I've tried!) so trust in your body to grow this baby and enjoy yourself and your pregnancy.