Fetal vibroacoustic stimulation test: features of the stimulus

Abstract

Fetal reactivity to acoustic stimulation is a long-recognized phenomenon. Obstetrical interest in this phenomenon is usually considered to have begun with peiper’s report in 1925 of marked fetal movements following a pulsed, loud sound. Occasional attention to the subject was given in the subsequent five decades. Read and Miller are often credited with writing the first comprehensive clinical study of the usefulness of acoustic stimulation in evaluating fetal health. A clear finding in this study was the correlation between an abnormal contraction stress test and faliure of the fetus to respond to stimulation.