38+ weeks brief decelerations on CTG

[minnieot]

Hi all, I'm 38 and a half weeks pregnant and I have bad anxiety so have been going in for twice weekly CTGs since 28 weeks so I'm very familiar with them.

I went in last night as baby wasn't moving much, and Dawes Redman criteria was met quite quickly despite him barely moving, but I asked to stay on for longer as I wasn't reassured.

His movements eventually picked up a bit, but a few times, his heart-rate went down to 107-110bpm - usually only for a few seconds, but I have never seen his heart rate go that low before. I'm aware that normal heart rate between accelerations is 110-160bpm so I was quite alarmed.

I asked the midwife about it and she just brushed me off and said it could have been picking up my pulse, but it wasn't, I heard his heart rate slow down and saw it on the machine. My pulse was around 70bpm so that made no sense whatsoever. I said I wasn't reassured by this so she got a consultant to come and speak to me who didn't seem to understand my worries and just said that it had met criteria and tried explaining to me how CTGs work but I still feel so worried that his heart rate dipped below what's normal a few times.

Any advice would be very appreciated, thank you so much.

I am 40W pregnant with a baby that has had a very good heartbeat and good ctgs so far, also I do not have anxiety and I can confirm that mine has dropped as low as 97 for a second and back up, his median is about 127-130 and a short drop is normal.
I have to go for these often because I developed pregnancy hypertension so I am on this really twice a week.

It can happen, the same way it can accelerate for a brief moment. Baby’s heartbeat can jump up and down from Braxton Hicks aswell btw…

@Xur thank you so much, that's reassuring and didn't realise Braxton hicks could cause heart rate fluctuations, that's even more reassuring as I was having a lot last night so could have been the cause. Thank you! X

A qualified midwife and an experienced consultant both told you your CTG was normal.

If this hasn’t settled your anxiety, I suspect strangers opinions on the internet who can’t even see the CTG won’t make a difference either

Except the post that's above yours reassured OP a bit, and you just look a little rude!

Was the CTG picking up any tightnings/Braxton Hicks at all? As babies get a good squeeze during a contraction, their heart rate drops in response. As the contraction ends, the heartbeat accelerates quickly back to normal.

Maybe next time you could ask them to turn the monitor away from you and mute the sound. It sends my anxiety spiralling to look at the display and hear the heartbeat. They are the professionals and if they are not concerned then that should be enough. I know we should be sceptical of decisions Drs make but, especially as this monitoring is driven by your anxiety, you need to take steps to minimise your anxiety and put some trust in the professionals.