NST

Today I am 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant. The clock is ticking very fast. The ante natal visit was Tuesday, 18th August 2009.

Again , my weight has dropped to 300 grams. I gasped even though it is normal for pregnant women to loose their weight during their last trimester. But then, I was frowned a bit. The doctor did the usual examination and he suggested that NST(Non Stress Test) be performed, like the one that I had done 2 weeks ago. Oh, god I thought...not again. Fetal heart monitoring is so called Fetal Non-Stress test is a simple, non-invasive test performed in pregnancies over 28 weeks gestation. The test is named “non-stress” because no stress is placed on the fetus during the test.

Anyway, I was asked to do this non-invasive test twice. Initially it went as long as 1.5 hour, I was panicking as it normally took 30 minutes and I was way far. Initially the baby's heart beat was quite fast/and the nurse suggested that the baby was quite " excited" then it slowly dropped. But then, I was asked to wait to see the doctor or perhaps to undergo another test few minutes later. I was not given clear what I am to do. But I was asked to wait, so accompanied by Kumari Chyamma, we sat there, watching tally which I could only grasp one or two Cantonese word that was being telecast.
Finally around 400pm I was called and did another test, this time...the heart beat seemed okay but the baby was moving less. God, again I thought...why does a god has to test me all the time? Does he want to know how strong I am? My dear almighty, I am stronger than you think, that was what I said inwardly and focused on the heart beat and waiting for the nurse to tell me, " It is normal, you are free to go home. Sorry to keep you waiting!" Finally around 4:40pm, I was relieved, The doctor signed the chart and I was allowed to go home...

It was really an exhausting day from 10:30am till 5:00pm in the hospital. We had a quick lunch in the Circle K.

How is a NST Performed? http://www.americanpregnancy.org/prenataltesting/non-stresstest.html


The test involves attaching one belt to the mother’s abdomen to measure fetal heart rate and another belt to measure contractions. Movement, heart rate and “reactivity” of heart rate to movement is measured for 20-30 minutes. If the baby does not move, it does not necessarily indicate that there is a problem; the baby could just be asleep. A nurse may use a small “buzzer” to wake the baby for the remainder of the test.

What do the NST results mean and what are the reasons for further testing?


A reactive non-stress result indicates that blood flow (and oxygen) to the fetus is adequate. A nonreactive non-stress result requires additional testing to determine whether the result is truly due to poor oxygenation, or whether there are other reasons for fetal non reactivity (i.e. sleep patterns, certain maternal prescription or nonprescription drugs).