Maternal perception of sound-provoked fetal movement in the early intrapartum period.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the relationship between maternal perception of sound-provoked fetal movement in the early intrapartum period and perinatal outcome.

METHOD

739 singleton pregnant women of at least 32 weeks gestation who were admitted to the labor ward, underwent the maternal perception of sound-provoked fetal movement test. All were in the latent phase of labor with singleton cephalic presentation. The result of maternal perception of sound-provoked fetal movement was compared with the perinatal outcome using sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, positive predictive value and accuracy.

RESULTS

When 739 pregnant women were compared to the perinatal outcome, maternal perception of sound-provoked fetal movement had sensitivity 100%, specificity 98.9%, positive predictive value 15.1%, negative predictive value 100%, and accuracy 90.1%.

CONCLUSION

The finding suggested the usefulness of maternal perception of sound-provoked fetal movement as an effective screening test to identify fetuses at risk in the early intrapartum period because of its high sensitivity and specificity. This is a simple and inexpensive test for evaluating fetal well-being in a primary health care setting.