Electronic Fetal Monitor/CTG reassurance please?!

[gardengrower]

Hi all! I am new here :) I am hoping you can help.....I had a CTG done on Thursday this past week, it was for on for approx. 20 minutes...I am 34 weeks pregnant, and was slightly panicky when I had not felt Baby move as much, so, the midwife's hooked me up to the machine. My Baby hated it the first few minutes/I mean he hated it, (why didn't I stop it then?) Eventually, Baby calmed down, after a couple minutes...So, when you google (yes, I know, I shouldn't) it is not that nice to ready that it is basically, sound waves/loud going through Baby and also generates heat on Baby...I read too much. I know this is what scans do, etc, but, the CTG uses doppler to pick up Baby's heart beat and now I am freaking out, I mean freaking out. I wish I had researched it before I did it :( Thankfully, Baby had perfect heart rate/readings and has calmed down now, so have I. It turns out, I just have a really calm Baby...he just doesn't kick me much/move much :) My question is...did any of you/were any of you hooked up to a fetal monitor prior to giving birth, due to you thought were reduced fetal movement.. and if so, did your Baby turn out OK? By that I mean, no brain damage or any brain issues/hearing issues?!! I know, I am bordering on crazy!! Pregnancy does stuff to you :) Thank you in advance guys :)

I mean this is the nicest way possible, is your midwife aware of how anxious you are?

These machines would not be used on such a regular basis if there was a real risk of damage to babies. Any procedure that is done that can carry even a small risk is only ever done when the benefits outweigh the risk, and is thoroughly explained to you.

And yes I had to go in daily for a week for monitoring and my daughter is perfectly healthy.

I have had 4 babies, had ctg monitoring with all 4. Last baby I had continuous ctg monitoring all through induction and everyday for a week leading up to her birth, they are all fine 😊 please don't worry op

Thank you all so much :) I am OK, feeling so much better, thank you for your information/experiences!!!

I had daily monitoring OP for a few weeks at the end of my last pregnancy.
They wouldn’t use if not safe, breathe and go enjoy the rest of your pregnancy

@gardengrower not related to what you have asked BUT have you tried the tricks when he doesn't move after a while? Ice cold drink, lay on your side for half an hour, eat something sweet etc? Xx

The sound waves used are not in the audible range for humans. They're at least 10 x the frequency humans can hear.

Doppler is not a special type of sound wave, but an effect that a moving object has on all waves of the wave hits something moving at a different speed relative to the source of the wave (the frequency is changed slightly - either made longer if the object moves away from the source, or shorter if the object moves towards the source). It means a heart can be detected beating because the heart moves relative to the source of the waves and the surrounding objects.

All waves have a slight heating effect. Light waves, etc.

You've been reading crap science. Trust me. I was a physics teacher for 7 years.

Correction: the wavelength lengthens if the object moves away from the source of the wave, which means frequency becomes lower. A longer frequency makes no sense. A wavelength decreases if the object moves towards the wave source which means frequency becomes higher.

These changes in wavelength (and this frequency) can be used to figure out how fast something moves or if it changes direction, which is what the pulsing of the heart is doing.

Were you reading the discredited Chinese studies for example that linked ultrasound to childhood cancers? Remember the Chinese government is trying to fund research into anything and everything that doesn’t link pollution to childhood cancers (which is what the real reason, combined to lack of access to basic healthcare services, why Chinese kids are more likely to die from Cancers than anywhere else in south asia). As a previous poster said you are reading crap science.

Thank you all for sharing your information and experiences it has all helped me to relax and like one poster said, enjoy the rest of my pregnancy thank you loads!!

Hi Gardengrower,

I know your post was over 2 years ago but I have had a similar experience but much worse. My baby went WILD for 4.5 hrs in total (hes normally a very quiet baby) He wouldn't calm down and it upset me so much. My consultant told me she thinks it's due to the machine being noisy. I just wondered how ur baby is now? Is ur baby hypersensitive to noise? Or healthy and normal happy baby? Thanku, from a very worried & probably paranoid crazy pregnant woman 😬 x