[LittleLisaLawrence]

I’m confused regarding scalp stimulation. Is it used to evoke an acceleration?

[CEG]

As I understand it, it is a way to measure baby's reserves. You would expect an acceleration with scalp stimulation and the lack of one might signal depression in the fetus. I do think it's been said that it does more harm than good as it is not part of the natural stimulations that occur with labor and can further fatigue the fetus.

[TRINI_RN]

From : http://www.obfocus.com/cme/fhr.htm
Fetal scalp stimulation can be used to induce accelerations. There is about a 50% chance of acidosis in the fetus who fails to respond to stimulation in the presence of a nonreassuring pattern. [17]

[Dayray]

Scalp stem is soemthing you can use when your on the fence about a strip. I use it on a strip with decreased or moderate veriability but no accels (neither reasureing or non-rasureing). If you get an accel its about as reassuring as when you get a spontanious accel. I wouldnt use it on a strip with decels becase its not goign to change the fact that you are having decels. if you dont get an accel it's equivical (neither a good or bad thing) if you get a decel it's nonreasuring and you should continue to monitor the strip.

the problem comes when it is used during a prolonged decel or a brady, these uses have been daming in court but are a common bad habbit for older practitioners. Scalp stem does not induce accels or bring a baby out of bardy (there are no studies that support this use) in fact some studies say it can actualy cause a bradycardia to become worse and cause stress in an with an already bad strip.

like all fetal monitoring it's a test to see if the baby is well oxygenated ( a well oxinated fetus should respond with an accell). also like all fetal monitoring good or bad results are just a bit better then an educated guess about actual fetal status.

[NurseNora]

Scalp stim involves a mild stress that evokes a response from the sympathetic nervous system causing an acceleration in a nonacidotic infant. During a deceleration, the baby is already being stressed beyond it's ability to compensate, so an additional stress, no matter how mild, is a bad idea. It's proper use is in helping to assess fetal well being, not as a treatment for bradycardia.