Diagnosis of Prematurity and Premature Labor

Prediction of Preterm Birth

“…The degree of cervical dilatation is given more importance than the other cervical factors (18,22,23 (9) suggested that early engagement might be correlated with preterm delivery. This is in agreement with our observation, as we found a calculated risk quotient of 15 for preterm birth in cases of early engagement.…”

Quickening and auscultation of fetal heart tones as estimators of the gestational interval A review

“…In addition to its use in the diagnosis of pregnancy, auscultation of the fetal heart beat in early pregnancy is also used to estimate the gestational interval. It is said to be a more accurate assessment of the gestational interval than either quickening or the date of the last menstrual period because it is an objective observation 46 that does not rely on a woman's memory or her perception of fetal movements. It is one of the three clinical criteria for the assessment of fetal maturity that is accepted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 47…”

“…Fetal heart motion can be observed with real‐time sonography at ten weeks of gestation and can be heard with Doppler ultrasound at eight weeks of gestation 49 . However, fetal heart tones are not usually auscultated until 17 to 20 weeks of gestation 19,46 . The difference of time between when the heart begins to beat and when it can be auscultated may be due to factors such as the size of the fetus, the amount of amniotic fluid, maternal obesity, the amount of external noise in the examining room, and the auditory acuity of the examiner 11,30,50,51…”

“…A review of the literature indicated that most authors usually expect to auscultate fetal heart tones sometime between the 18th and 20th weeks, 25–28,46,52 the 16th and 20th weeks, 7,10,11,31,53 after 18 weeks, 54 or at or after 20 weeks of gestation 8,23,24,30,45,50,51,55 …”

“…DePaul was reported to have heard fetal heart tones at 11 weeks of gestation 7,10 . Others have reported auscultating fetal heart tones as early as 12 to 14 weeks of gestation 26,27,31,46 …”