Acoustic stimulation: effect on heart rate and other biophysical variables

It is clear that external vibroacoustic stimulation produces remarkable changes in fetal heart rate and fetal movement patterns which are related to changes in fetal behavior. The clinical significance of these effects on human fetuses has been addressed by many authors in series of small number of patients involved. There is an obvious lack of uniformity in the different protocols used to determine the predictive value of fetal acoustic stimulation in the assessment of fetal health. Current knowledge of the normal responses of healthy human fetuses to acoustic stimulation and the limitations of this type of testing should be taken into account to determine more accurately the negative and positive predictive value for fetal outcome.