Monson M, Heuser C, Einerson BD, et al. - A randomized controlled trial was performed at four Utah hospitals to compare the interpretability of two intrapartum abdominal fetal heart rate monitoring strategies. Whether more interpretable fetal heart rate data would be produced by an external fetal electrocardiography monitoring system (a newer technology using wireless abdominal pads) vs standard external Doppler fetal heart rate monitoring (standard external monitoring), was determined. Patients were enrolled at labor admission. Overall, researchers randomized 218 women [fetal electrocardiography = 108 and standard external monitoring = 110]. They found a similar performance of fetal electrocardiography vs that of standard external monitoring when taking into account the percentage of interpretable tracing generated in labor. The use of fetal electrocardiography in labor afforded overall greater satisfaction to patients. The likely usefulness of fetal electrocardiography was suggested particularly in patients with body mass index ≥ 30.