What are Non Stress Tests?

[angieb]

They may or may not have someone do the buzzer/click thingy when they feel movement. My practice told me they don't do that anymore. (They did for my April 2011pregnancy but had stopped a little more than a year later.It was nice to just relax and nor have to "record" movement.

[whereowhere]

Thanks, Alexis!

[alexis]

Non-stress testing is a measure of fetal well being--they measure the fetal heart rate and uterine activity. You click a buzzer if the baby moves; this is marked on the test screen/strip (so they can map it against the FHR changes). They're looking for a certain baseline FHR and (IIRC) 2 accelerations of a certain number of BPM above baseline within the test time. A nonreactive NST may be a sign of placental problems, among other things, but it is not definitive--if the test is nonreactive (the nurse performing the test may try a few simple tricks to perk the baby up, such as juice, cold water, a cookie), the usual next step is a biophysical profile.

(Apparently, a few hospitals are moving to the BPP as routine--this requires ultrasound and my OB had MFM do it.)

[whereowhere]

My doctor is going to start NST's next week at 31 week 5 days. What are these tests for and how do they relate to monitoring for preeclampsia or for other complications?