OVERVIEW OF FETAL MONITORING
Although the fetal heart sound was first described in a poem in the 1600s, it was not until the mid-1800s that abnormal fetal heart rates were associated with fetal distress signifying the need for a forceps intervention (Freeman & Garite, 1981). At the time, evaluating a fetus was primarily accomplished by putting one’s ear to the maternal abdomen, or using a Laennec instrument (cylindrical in shape and similar to the Pinard) to auscultate the fetal heart rate (Freeman & Garite, 1981). The first fetal electrocardiogram (EKG) recording was in 1906 (Freeman & Garite, 1981); 50 years later, Dr. Hon from Yale University was able to identify causes of bradycardia leading to fetal distress by monitoring the fetal heart rate continuously from the maternal abdomen (Hon & Lee, 1963).