Guide to the Fetal Heart Monitor interface — FHR tracing, TOCO contraction monitoring, maternal vitals, and instructor controls.

Fetal Heart Monitor

The Fetal Heart Monitor interface simulates an electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) strip chart used in labor and delivery settings. It displays a continuous fetal heart rate (FHR) tracing and tocodynamometer (TOCO) contraction pattern on a standard grid.

Fetal Heart Monitor student interface showing FHR tracing, TOCO contraction pattern, and maternal vitals bar

Interface Layout

The fetal monitor display is divided into several areas:

Area	Description
FHR tracing	Upper section — fetal heart rate plotted on a standard grid scaled 60–240 bpm
FHR numeric	Right side, cyan — current fetal heart rate value
TOCO tracing	Lower section — uterine contraction pattern on a grid scaled 0–100
TOCO numeric	Right side, cyan — current tocodynamometer value
Maternal vitals bar	Bottom row — HR (green), NIBP (red), SpO2 (white), RR (white), TEMP (purple), SPEED (yellow)
Playback controls	Top-right — play and pause buttons
Back button	Top-left — return to the main screen

FHR Tracing

The fetal heart rate tracing scrolls from left to right on a standard EFM grid:

Grid scale: 60–260 bpm (vertical), time-based (horizontal)
Normal baseline: 110–160 bpm
Variability is visible in the beat-to-beat fluctuations of the trace
Accelerations and decelerations appear as the tracing rises above or dips below the baseline

TOCO / Contraction Monitoring

The lower tracing displays uterine activity:

Grid scale: 0–100 units
Contractions appear as peaks rising from the baseline
Frequency, duration, and intensity are all controlled by the instructor

Maternal Vitals

The bottom bar displays the mother's vital signs during the simulation:

Parameter	Color	Description
HR	Green	Maternal heart rate
NIBP	Red	Non-invasive blood pressure (systolic/diastolic with MAP)
SpO2	White	Oxygen saturation (%)
RR	White	Respiratory rate
TEMP	Purple	Temperature
SPEED	Yellow	Chart speed multiplier (1x, 2x, 5x, 10x)

Instructor Controls

From the instructor's live simulation view, the fetal monitor provides two parameter tabs:

OB Tab

Instructor OB controls showing FHR Baseline, Variability, Fetal Heart Pattern, contractions, and maternal HR

Parameter	Description
FHR Baseline	Baseline fetal heart rate (bpm)
Baseline Variability	Absent, Minimal, Moderate, or Marked
Fetal Heart Pattern	Pattern type — Periodic Accelerations, Early Decelerations, Late Decelerations, Variable Decelerations, etc.
Heart Rate Change	Magnitude of accelerations/decelerations (bpm)
Contractions Frequency	Time between contractions (seconds)
Duration	Length of each contraction (seconds)
Intensity	Strength of contractions
TOCO Baseline	Baseline tocodynamometer reading
HR	Maternal heart rate

Mother Tab

The Mother tab provides controls for maternal vital signs (HR, NIBP, SpO2, RR, Temperature) that display on the student's maternal vitals bar.

OB Scenarios

The fetal monitor includes OB-specific scenarios such as Normal Birth with pre-built parts (Start, T1, T2, T3) that progress through stages of labor with realistic FHR patterns and contraction changes.

Video Walkthroughs

Watch these short videos to see the Fetal Heart Monitor interface in action.

Student View Demo

A walkthrough of the student interface showing live FHR tracing and TOCO contraction updates during a simulation:

Instructor Controls Demo

How instructors configure fetal monitor parameters from the live simulation view: