Felat accelerations, decelerations, variable help

Early decels - begin with the contraction and end when the contraction ends; the lowest point of the FHR should come at the peak of the contraction

Late decels - decels that begin after the onset of the contraction and continue after the contraction ends

Variable decels - unpredictable decels that do not follow either of the patterns above

Remember:

Early decels are ok, generally indicate compression on the head during contraction

Late decels are bad, generally indicate uteroplacental insufficiency

Variable decels are also bad, generally indicate cord compression

Remember, decels are a decrease in FHR. The thing to be concerned about is HR

ELV -- early late variable

HPC -- head placenta cord

That above is how i remembered mine for tests and it always worked for me. The thing to take into consideration is that other factors play a role in FHR - drugs, position, congenital defects, etc. Study up - I had a question on NCLEX about FHR and decels!

This girl in my class showed us how she remembered it. She told us to remember VEAL CHOP

V- variable --> C-cord compression

E-early --> H-head compression

A- O-(I don't think these really had imp. meaning)

L-late --> P- placenta insuffieciency

V- variable --> C-cord compression

E-early --> H-head compression

A-accelerations--> O-okay

L-late --> P- placenta insuffieciency

I love the VEAL CHOP! It's the mneumonic that has helped me most in NS.

We just learned in class , That you can be early to dinner but not late to dinner- meaning early decels are ok but late ones are never ok.