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Fetal vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> utilizes a handheld device or mobile phone app designed for this study that sends brief sound bursts directly to an unborn baby, with the goal of awakening it and increasing frequency of one or more fetal heart rate accelerations necessary for passing a non-stress test. A recent review of 12 randomised controlled trials involving 6822 women demonstrated that vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> significantly enhanced effectiveness of antenatal cardiotocography tests.<\/p>\n Fetal vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> uses a handheld device placed over the mother’s abdomen that emits brief sounds believed to stimulate an unborn baby. When used during non-stress tests (two or more fetal heart rate accelerations in 15 minutes), the device serves to awaken it from periods of restful sleep during which movements and heart rate accelerations may not have been detected by prenatal cardiotocography tests. A recent review of 12 randomised controlled trials involving 6822 women demonstrated that vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> significantly reduced non-reactive cardiotocography tests without increasing false positive rates or false positive rates.<\/p>\n Fetal vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> involves placing a hand-held electronic device just above a mother’s abdomen, with short sounds transmitted directly to her baby through this stimulation device. The aim is to arouse her child, in order to make tests such as fetal heart rate monitoring more effective.<\/p>\n Cochrane’s systematic review of 12 randomised controlled trials (involving 6822 participants) determined that using vibroacoustic<\/a> stimulators to wake the baby reduced non-reactive antenatal cardiotocography tests and shortened total testing times for fetal heart rate monitoring. Unfortunately, however, research on optimal intensity, frequency duration and positioning of vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> remains inadequate to draw definitive conclusions regarding safety; further randomized trials must be performed to identify optimal frequency duration positioning of vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> for optimal effectiveness when used alongside tests of wellbeing outcomes evaluation and predictive reliability analysis.<\/p>\n VAS is an easy and inexpensive method of stimulating the fetus during tests of its wellbeing. In most instances, stimuli are administered using an artificial larynx made for this specific use. An increase of 15bpm over 15 seconds of fetal heart rate acceleration following vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> is taken as a positive and reassuring indicator of fetal well being. Negative\/adverse responses to stimuli, such as tachycardia, decelerations or absence of fetal heart rate accelerations do not necessarily indicate compromised fetal health; further evaluation may be necessary. A negative response should not exclude fetal distress altogether and should prompt prompt evaluation by a credentialed provider immediately following delivery.<\/p>\n Fetal vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> (VAS) testing may be recommended when the nonstress test (NST) results are inconclusive or positive; that means they haven’t seen enough accelerations of heart rate to indicate wellbeing in their baby. VAS stimulates the fetus’s movement to wake it up and potentially improve the NST result.<\/p>\n An artificial larynx device is placed on the pregnant woman’s abdomen and vibroacoustic<\/a> stimuli are administered for 1 to 3 seconds, inducing startle reflex in her fetus and leading to an acceleration in its heart rate, indicative of its wellbeing. If it fails to do this initially, repeating the VAS test may be required until its effects on its heart rate become evident; otherwise a contraction stress test (CST) might be recommended instead.<\/p>\n VAS should not be performed during gestationsal ages 32 weeks or beyond or oligohydramnios, due to risk of acidosis in the fetus that can prove life-threatening to both mother and fetus.<\/p>\n A Cochrane review of 12 randomised controlled trials that included vibroacoustic<\/a> stimuliation along with tests of fetal wellbeing found that use of vibration devices reduced nonreactive NST results; however, further research must be conducted in order to confirm this finding and ascertain if vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> is safe and effective (East et al. 2013).<\/p>\n Fetal vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> (VVS) is a safe and effective method for awakening fetuses to perform tests of their wellbeing. Research has demonstrated an increase in the number of reassuring movements, as well as two or more heart rate accelerations over 20 minutes during non-stress tests conducted using VVS, while cardiotocography remains more reliable when it comes to detecting distress signals or increased risks for morbidity or mortality during gestation.<\/p>\n A review of 12 randomised controlled trials with 6822 pregnant women demonstrated that vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> for the fetus was superior to placebo in decreasing incidences of non-reactive cardiotocography tests (nine trials; relative risk 0.62; 95% confidence interval: 0.48 to 0.81). More research must be conducted into finding optimal intensity, frequency and duration settings of vibroacoustic stimulation<\/a> to maximize its efficacy against tests of fetal wellbeing.<\/p>\n How it works<\/h2>\n
Safety<\/h2>\n
Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n
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