[Electronic surveillance during delivery. A method of reading the tracings]

A method for reading the foetal heart rate tracings and a guide of management advise in each case have been established from a review of the literature and the study of 500 records. The tracings are schematically divided into three categories according to the presumed risk of foetal distress: normal or "tolerable" tracings, alarm symptoms and danger symptoms. For each categorie, and according to the duration of the variations, a type of management is proposed. Other diagnostic means, such as capillary blood pH measurement are desirable to improve the foetal state diagnostic and make the treatment more precise.