New developments in fetal monitoring for the anesthesiologist

Assessing fetal wellbeing has evolved from the ancient awareness of 'quickening' to a vast array of biophysical, imaging and biochemical methods. Because the results of these tests influence the urgency of fetal delivery and sometimes the choice of maternal anesthetic technique, it is important for anesthesiologists to understand the fundamentals of fetal monitoring and the changing face of new developments in this field. Noteworthy publications from the past year on this topic include new guidelines for the interpretation of fetal heart monitoring, advances in intrapartum fetal pulse oximetry, thresholds of acidosis associated with fetal injury, and efforts to decrease cerebral palsy through better antenatal biophysical testing.