Diagnosing handicap using the behaviour of the fetus

The study of fetal behaviour may have important implications for the prenatal diagnosis of handicap. Since behaviour reflects the integrity of the fetal neural system the examination of fetal behaviour enables neurological assessment of the fetus. This paper discusses present methods of assessing fetal well-being and their shortfalls and then considers current research using behaviour to identify the compromised fetus. Studies using both spontaneous and elicited fetal behaviour are discussed. The paper concludes that a greater understanding of fetal behaviour promises great advances in the antenatal detection of handicap or fetal compromise and may enable midwives to become more involved in the assessment of fetal well-being.