A randomized trial of weekly cardiotocography in highrisk obstetric patients

Abstract

Summary. A randomized clinical trial of once‐weekly antenatal fetal heart rate monitoring in 539 high‐risk patients could find no benefit of monitoring in terms of perinatal mortality, morbidity or Apgar score. The previously well‐documented association between abnormal antenatal fetal heart rate traces and low Apgar score was confirmed. A detailed case review showed that in this population monitoring was irrelevant to almost all of the 13 perinatal deaths.