Significance of unstressed antepartum cardiotocography performed weekly in last trimester of apparently normal pregnancy.

Antepartum Cardiotocographs (CTGs) were obtained at weekly intervals from 28th-30th week of pregnancy onwards in 111 apparently normal pregnancies. A new CTG score was used to assess the 1196 CTGs obtained, 80 per cent of which proved normal. Minor pathology was seen in 19.1 per cent, while moderate or severe pathology was seen in only 0.9% of the CTGs. Of 16 babies born small-for-date, 15 had a pathological CTG on one or more occasions. There was a significantly greater incidence of small-for-date infants when two or more pathological CTGs were observed. Nineteen of 20 women whose babies developed late decelerations during labor had at least one pathological CTG. All infants with an Apgar score less than 5 and all acidemic fetuses had one or more pathological CTGs. All women who required cesarean section because of fetal distress during labor had pathological CTGs on two or more occasions. All cases in which accelerations of the fetal heart rate did not accompany movements (AFM) after the 36th week of pregnancy resulted in the birth of a small-for-date infant, while sporadic absence of AFM before the 36th week was of no importance.