Antepartum Fetal Testing

The Challenge

The challenge is to reduce the risk for fetal demise in women at a high risk through the use of noninvasive tests that have acceptably low false-positive and false-negative results.

• Scope of the Problem: There are approximately 5.7 fetal deaths at more than 20 weeks of gestation per 1000 live births in the United States (2019; 25/1000 births in 1942).

• Objectives of Management: To identify those fetuses who are at a high risk and those whose status is deteriorating or nonreassuring so that intervention can be initiated to prevent mortality. Ultimately, the reduction of fetal morbidity and the improvement of neurologic outcome would also be ideal, but objective studies to support the effectiveness of antepartum fetal testing are lacking.