{"id":23967,"date":"2025-09-21T14:01:35","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T18:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/?p=23967"},"modified":"2025-09-21T14:01:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T18:01:35","slug":"prenatal-non-stress-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valuecare.wpgamma.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/21\/prenatal-non-stress-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Prenatal Non Stress Test"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/a>\"Prenatal<\/a>A prenatal non-stress test is a relatively common test done in the\u00a0third trimester<\/a>\u00a0of your\u00a0pregnancy<\/a>\u00a0to evaluate how your baby is doing by measuring the heart rate. It\u2019s common because there is very little risk to the mother or the baby and the results from the test can often be used to evaluate if the baby is being unduly stressed in the uterine environment.<\/div>\n

The test is only performed after 28 weeks gestation because before that the baby isn\u2019t old enough to meet the test protocols and the doctor wont get an accurate result.<\/p>\n

The mother arrives for the test very soon after having eaten and emptying her bladder. Right after a meal there is less of a chance that the baby is napping due to the increased activity of the mother and the increased amount of sugar available in the blood stream.<\/p>\n

During the test a strap is placed over the mother belly to monitor the baby\u2019s heart rate. Sometimes two\u00a0straps<\/a>\u00a0are used in order to ensure the monitoring is accurate and picked up by the machine.<\/p>\n

The test measures the anticipated increase in the baby\u2019s heart rate after the baby has moved in the uterus. The expectation is that with movement the baby\u2019s heart rate will increase to accommodate for the increased muscle movement. In a baby who is under oxygen debt there will not be the expected heart rate increases.<\/p>\n

This test is completely non-invasive and doesn\u2019t hurt the mother or the baby.<\/p>\n

If the test doesn\u2019t show at least two heart rate increases that last over 20 seconds in a 20 minute period of time the assumption is that the baby is napping and another test is done within an hour.<\/p>\n

The physician wont wait to repeat a nonreactive prenatal non-stress test until the following day but rather will repeat it quickly to determine if the child requires intervention to prevent complications.<\/p>\n