A lot happens during labor, but through it all, medical professionals focus on one main thing: getting the baby and mother through as safely and smoothly as possible. That’s why doctors monitor the baby’s heart rate during labor. A healthy heartbeat is a good indicator that the baby is coping with the stress of labor, while abnormal heart rates can point doctors in the right direction if something goes wrong. Learn more about how doctors monitor heartbeat to keep mothers and babies safe with this guide to fetal heart rate during labor: what’s normal and what isn’t.

How Do Doctors Monitor Fetal Heart Rate?

Medical professionals can monitor a baby’s heart rate through internal or external means, but external monitoring is far more common. Internal monitoring involves attaching an electrode wire to the fetus while it’s still in the uterus. This method offers a more accurate reading, making it useful for escalated situations where the baby and mother are facing complications during labor.

When monitoring the heartbeat externally, doctors use a fetal heartbeat stethoscope. These specialized tools work much like a normal stethoscope, but they use a rounded bell to better pick up the baby’s heartbeat through the mother’s belly.

Doctors Look for a Healthy Baseline

Medical professionals determine a baby’s baseline heart rate by recording their average heart rate over a period of 10 minutes. A healthy baseline typically lies between 110 and 160 beats per minute. Anything below or above that range indicates something abnormal. A too-slow or too-fast baseline heart rate helps medical providers narrow down a problem and react accordingly.

Accelerations in Heart Rate

Not all heart rate changes are dangerous. In fact, brief heartbeat accelerations indicate that the baby has enough oxygen and is dealing well with the stress of labor. Doctors will keep an eye out for small jumps in heart rate—usually increasing by at least 15 bpm for several seconds—during specific stages of labor. If the baby’s heart rate isn’t jumping, doctors might try to induce accelerations by rocking the mother’s belly or delivering brief instances of sound to the baby to get them moving.

Decelerations in Heart Rate

Temporary drops in heart rate can happen for a few different reasons. Once again, some of these dips are normal. Early decelerations can happen when the baby’s head is compressed during contractions or in the breech position. Late decelerations can also occur alongside contractions. If these drops in heart rate are temporary, there’s nothing to worry about. However, if decelerations last for too long or keep repeating, it might be a sign that the umbilical cord is compressed or that the baby isn’t getting enough oxygen.

Monitoring fetal heart rate during labor and understanding what’s normal and what isn’t helps doctors ensure that any changes are normal and healthy. Furthermore, heart rate monitoring helps doctors act quickly and effectively if complications do occur. Catching an irregular change in heartbeat early gives medical providers time to adjust the mother’s position, supply more oxygen or fluids, or perform other treatments to help stabilize the baby and ensure a safe delivery.