Effect of different maternal positions on comfort of antenatal mothers and fetal parameters during nonstress test

Providing comfort to an antenatal mother is one of the critical components of the nonstress test (NST). An experimental study was conducted on 450 antenatal mothers beyond 34 weeks, who were randomly allocated into three groups - supine, left lateral, and semi-fowler's position, to explore the association of selected maternal positions on NST results and to find the impact of these positions on the comfort level of antenatal mothers. The fetal parameters were assessed by observing and recording biophysiological measurements from the NST and the maternal comfort of different positions by the Verbal Numerical Rating Scale. The data analyzed reveal a significant association between maternal positions and fetal parameters at P < 0.05 level. Antenatal women who were in semi-fowler's position exhibited more comfort and fetal NST reactivity as noted by significant variation in the baseline fetal heart rate, beat-to-beat variability, acceleration, deceleration, and fetal movements.