Fetal Health Assessment by Nonstress Test and its relationship with Neonatal Hospitalization at Birth

Document Type : Original Article (s)

Authors

1 Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran

2 Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Midwifery, Social Development and Health Promotion Research Center, School of Medicine, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran

4 Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrices and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, Bint Al-Hoda Hospital, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnourd, Iran

5 Instructor, Department of Basic Sciences, School of Medicine, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran

6 Student of Medicine, School of Medicine, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran

Abstract

Background: The nonstress test (NST) is the most common method of assessing fetal health. According to the different results of this test in previous studies, this study aimed to determine fetal health using NST, and its relationship with neonatal hospitalization at birth.Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 350 low-risk pregnant women at weeks 38-42, referred to Allameh Bohloul Gonabadi and Bent Al-Hoda hospitals in Boujnourd City, Iran, in year 2019. The understudy mothers were evaluated with NST, and 175 reactive and 175 non-reactive tests were selected by the available sampling method. Accordingly, neonatal hospitalization status of 350 mothers was recorded. Study data were collected by checklist, and the presence of researchers during labor stages.Findings: The rate of fetal hospitalization at birth was 42.1% and 52.9% for mothers with reactive and non-reactive NST results, respectively, which had no significant relationship (P = 0.495). Furthermore, there was no significant relationship between different parameters in the NST items (number of acceleration, number of deceleration, type of deceleration, baseline, and variability of the baseline) with infant hospitalization at birth.Conclusion: Predicting neonatal hospitalization status at birth only based on the NST results is not reliable, and medical interventions during the mother’s hospital stay require further assessments.

Keywords


  1. Naderi T, Nikian Y, Amin Zadeh F. Sensitivity and specificity of NST in cases with decrease of fetal movement and amniotic fluid volume. J Babol Univ Med Sci 2002; 4(1): 7-10. [In Persian].
  2. BakhtiyariNasab M, Golmakani N. The effect of vibroacoustic and light stimulation on fetal health: A review of the literature. Iran J Obstet Gynecol Infertil 2018; 21(Suppl): 94-104. [In Persian].
  3. Modarres M, Mir Mohammad AM, Haghani H, Arami R, Rahnama P. The conformity of BPP and vibroacoustic stimulation results in fetal non reactive non stress test. Tehran Univ Med J 2006; 64(9): 46-54. [In Persian].
  4. Baghdari N, Khadem N, Kordi M, Shakeri M. The relationship between maternal count of the fetal movements and non-stress test in the evaluation of fetal well-being in high risk mothers. J Sabzevar Univ Med Sci 2006; 12(4): 20-7. [In Persian].
  5. Nazari S, Hatami E, TabatabaeiChehr M, Bagheri M, Ghorbani M. Diagnostic value of non-stress test interpreted by smart interpretive software. Journal of Midwifery and Reproductive Health 2018; 6(3): 1393-8.
  6. Priya R. The diagnostic value of the non-reactive NST/non-reactive CTG in high-risk pregnancies. International Journal of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2018; 2(5): 142-6.
  7. TabatabaeiChehr M, Eftekharian M, Sharifian E, Nazari S, Ghorbani M, Bagheri M. The effects of acupressure, LV3 point on fetal heart rate pattern, during fetal non stress test: A randomized clinical trial. Iran J Obstet Gynecol Infertil 2019; 22(8): 35-43. [In Persian].
  8. Georgieva A, Abry P, Chudacek V, Djuric PM, Frasch MG, Kok R, et al. Computer-based intrapartum fetal monitoring and beyond: A review of the 2nd Workshop on Signal Processing and Monitoring in Labor (October 2017, Oxford, UK). Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2019; 98(9): 1207-17.
  9. Williams JW, Cunningham FG, MacDonald PC, Gant NF. Williams Obstetrics. Norwalk, CT: Appleton and Lange; 1989.
  10. Patel S, Gupta S, Modi K, Desai A, Shah S, Pamnani D. Correlation of admission NST in low risk pregnancy with neonatal outcome. American Journal of Ethnomedicine 2015; 2(2): 79-83.
  11. Nivetha S, Dipti CP. A prospective observational study on the correlation of non stress test in the latent phase of labour with the fetal outcome in singleton term pregnancies (37 42 completed weeks) with vertex presenting part: A prospective observational study on the correlation of non stress test. Natl J Integr Res Med 2020; 11(1): 54-7.
  12. Patange RP, Patil SS, Shah PD, Kadam D, Chavan V. Non-stress test in high-risk pregnancy. Int J Cur Res Rev 2020; 12(18): 112-7.
  13. Kiettisanpipop P, Phupong V. Intrapartum and neonatal outcome of screening non-stress test (NST) compared with no screening NST in healthy women at 40-40 (+6) weeks of gestation. J Obstet Gynaecol Res 2015; 41(1): 50-4.
  14. Morgan JA, Hankins ME, Wang Y, Hutchinson D, Sams HL, Voltz JH, et al. Prolonged fetal heart rate decelerations in labor: Can we reduce unplanned primary cesarean sections in this group? Adv Ther 2020; 37(10): 4325-35.
  15. Umana OD, Siccardi MA. Prenatal non-stress test. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing; 2021.
  16. Li G, Zhang S, Yang L, Li S, Wang Y, Hao D, et al. Computerized analysis of acceleration parameter for the non-stress test normal and potentially abnormal fetuses. Comput Assist Surg 2016; 21(Suppl 1): 1-5.
  17. Kapaya H, Jacques R, Almond T, Rosser MH, Anumba D. Is short-term-variation of fetal-heart-rate a better predictor of fetal acidaemia in labour? A feasibility study. PLoS One 2020; 15(8): e0236982.
  18. Yadav G, Singh P, Kathuria P, Gothwal M. Antenatal non-stress test in low risk and high-risk pregnancies: Evolving role of nst in improving perinatal outcomes. Indian Obstetrics and Gynaecology 2020; 10(2): 18-24.
  19. Raouf S, Sheikhan F, Hassanpour S, Bani S, Torabi R, Shamsalizadeh N. Diagnostic value of non stress test in latent phase of labor and maternal and fetal outcomes. Glob J Health Sci 2014; 7(2): 177-82.