CONTINUOUS POSTNATAL HEART RATE MONITORING IN THE NEWBORN

We investigated the value of continuous postnatal heart rate monitoring and relationship of beat to beat variability to infant's outcome using a Hewlett-Packard cardiorespirograph. 123 infants(52 healthy, 36 sick term & 35 sick preterm) were monitored from birth to 72 hrs. Highest (H), & lowest(L) rates were obtained visually from the tracing at 10 intervals. Data thus obtained was entered on computer sheet, and mean H,L rates and variability(V) at 5 hr, intervals calculated. Results are shown. Infants with V of 25 had good prognosis. A drop in variability occurred with clinical deterioration. 6/26 Infants who had fetal recording during labor showed abnormal pattern of fetal heart rate. 5 had persistent postnatal decreased V, 3/5 died. These data suggest that continuous postnatal monitoring provides important information regarding prognosis of the infant.