What is fetal monitoring?
During your labor, your healthcare practitioner and nurse will check your baby's heart rate to keep tabs on how he's doing and see how he's tolerating your contractions. This is called fetal monitoring.
It's usually done with an electronic fetal monitor or a handheld Doppler device like the one used to listen to your baby during your prenatal visits. A stethoscope-like device called a fetoscope is sometimes used instead. Most women who give birth in hospitals are hooked up to an electronic fetal monitor more or less continuously throughout labor.
