Evaluation of the agreement between ultrasound and maternal perception of fetal movements

Abstract

Fetal movements (FM) are of great importance for the assessment of fetal well-being. The maternal recognition of decreased fetal movements has the potential to be widely used in pre-natal primary care in an attempt to identify the fetus at risk, especially for its low cost. However, there are no clear factors that influence the maternal perception of fetal movements, or the agreement between actual movements and those reported by pregnant women. Objective: This study aims to investigate the general recognition of MF by the mother, investigating the correlation between maternal perception and movement observed on ultrasound. Methods: 20 pregnant women will be evaluated with the following inclusion criteria: single, live fetus; Maternal Age between 18 and 35 years, gestational age between 36 and 40 completed weeks, normal fetal morphology at ultrasound examination, absence of clinical and obstetric morbidities. The patient will be evaluated for 10 minutes, during which the cardiotocography transducer to trigger uterine contractions will be placed with the device to mark fetal movements, and the paper speed will be set to 3cm/min. Simultaneous observation of the fetal movements will be performed by ultrasound and the investigator will note the movements in tracing, and identifying. Concordance analysis will be conducted regarding the maternal perception of fetal movements.(AU)