Stimulation of human fetuses with sound and vibration.

It is clear that external vibroacoustic stimulation with the EAL produces remarkable changes in FHR and fetal movement patterns that are related to changes in fetal behavior. The clinical significance of these studies has been addressed in small series on human fetuses by many authors. There is an obvious lack of uniformity in the different protocols used to determine the predictive value of FAS in the assessment of fetal health. Current knowledge of the normal responses of healthy human fetuses to acoustic stimulation and the limitations of this type of testing should be taken into account to determine more accurately the negative and positive predictive values for fetal outcome. Currently available data are not sufficient to evaluate clinical efficiency of such stimuli to predict fetal compromise.