Cardiotocogram

Cardiotocogram, what is it?

The cardiotocogram (NST, Non Stress Test) is an examination with which the gynecologist assesses the fetal well being of the baby during pregnancy. We would say it is something like a fetal cardiogram.
It is a completely painless and harmless examination for the baby and the mother, it is carried out towards the end of pregnancy, usually after 35-36 weeks, but also earlier if necessary.
This test helps us monitor the baby during labor by listening to its pulse.

Heart beats normally range from 110 to 160 per minute.
In addition, with this examination we can more objectively assess the baby’s movements inside the abdomen, which is also important for the baby’s health status.

Another piece of information we can collect with this test is uterine contractions. In other words, we can record the contractions with a special sensor placed on the mother’s abdomen and assess whether they are alarming for the pregnancy (premature contractions), or whether it is a normal activity.

Depending on the waveform presented by the cardiotocogram, the gynecologist will decide whether the pregnancy can continue normally or whether the delivery should be accelerated for some reason.