A comparison of episodic heart‐rate patterns in the fetus and newborn
VISSER GHA., CARSE EA., GOODMAN JDS., JOHNSON P.
Summary. Fourier analysis was applied to episodes of high and low heart‐rate variation in the near‐term fetus. The spectral densities of the variations in pulse intervals from 1 to 7 cycles/min, were almost identical with those found by De Haan et al. (1977) in the newborn infant during both active and quiet sleep. A computer programme, designed to separate low and high heart‐rate variation episodes in the fetus, identified seven of the eight quiet sleep episodes in four infants. None of the other neonatal behavioural states had low heart‐rate variation. It was concluded that, with other published data, there is increasing, although indirect, evidence that low heart‐rate variation episodes indicate quiet sleep in the human fetus near term. Copyright © 1982, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved