NST

[brooklyn098]

Can anyone tell me what happens during a Non Stress Test and how long it takes? Im 40weeks and 3days and go for a test today

[2ndtimesacharm]

I had them twice a week for the last few months of pregnancy.  I ate doughnuts before every test so the baby would move around a lot.  Very relaxing to sit and hear the babies heartbeat.   It can track contractions too.

[brooklyn098]

Thank you for informing me

[wonko]

I've had 3 done so far.  They put monitors on you that can track the baby's heart rate and movement.  (I think older machines can't track the movement, in which case you'd press a button when you feel it.)  Over the course of 20-30 minutes, they keep track of baby's heart rate and movement, and look for correlations (that is, if baby's movement picks up, so should heart rate).  They look for a couple of speed ups and slow downs to make sure that baby is active enough and that the movement/heart rate track with each other.  I had one that took longer, about 40 minutes, because baby fell asleep and so it wasn't that active.  The nurses had me drink icewater and played a small radio on my belly, and sure enough baby woke up and became active again!

It can actually be relaxing time, sitting in a recliner and listening to your baby's heartbeat for ~20-30 minutes.