Scalp Stimulation - What's it good for?

CEG · May 3, 2008

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 · May 3, 2008

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, RN · May 3, 2008

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, BSN, RN · May 4, 2008

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.