There are two observations your caregiver can use, to possibly determine if your baby is distressed.
These are:
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An irregularity in the baby's heart rate. This is usually picked up through the caregiver listening to the baby's heart rate after a contraction, every half an hour with either a Pinard's earpiece, or a hand held Doppler machine, or through continuous monitoring of the baby's heart rate on a CTG machine, to see if there is an abnormal pattern in the heart rate. |
Image 4-38 shows a Pinard's earpiece.
Image 4-37 shows one type of hand- held Doppler.
Image 3-17 shows the baby being continuously monitored on a CTG machine.
OR
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Heavy (or thick) meconium staining of the amniotic fluid. This is when the baby opens their bowels inside the woman's uterus, making the waters look green, or brownish, in colour. Meconium staining can be light (lots of fluid with a slight discolouration), which may (or may not) be a concern, just requiring ongoing observation. However, it can be heavy or thick, similar in consistency to pea soup, which is usually more of a concern.
If meconium is seen, but the baby's heart rate is normal, the baby is not considered to be distressed, but if the baby's heart rate is abnormal as well, then the perception of distress is more accurate. You can read more on this in meconium stained amniotic fluid. |