Intermittent Fetal Heart Monitoring Through Moyo Doppler Improves Nonreassuring Fetal Heart Rate Detection in Hospital of Ethiopia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: This study was aimed to assess the effect of intermittent fetal heart rate (FHR) monitoring using Moyo Doppler compared with fetoscope in hospitals of Ethiopia, 2023.

Background: To facilitate more prompt identification of a hypoxic fetus, Laerdal Global Health has recently introduced the Moyo FHR monitor. Nevertheless, there exists limited knowledge regarding its efficacy derived from multicenter contextual trials conducted in resource-constrained environments, specifically in Ethiopia.

Methods: This randomized trial (PACTR202305607000259) enrolled 2518 low-risk laboring women in the study during the study period, using a simple randomization technique from September 28, 2022, to February 28, 2023. A total of 1259 and 1259 were followed by Moyo and Pinard fetoscope, respectively. A P-value of less than .05 was considered significant.

Results: The abnormal FHR was detected among 60 women (5.1%) and 30 women (2.4%) (P = .001) in the Moyo and Pinard fetoscope arms, respectively.

Conclusion: The Moyo FHR monitor has demonstrated efficacy in detecting abnormal FHRs when compared with the Pinard fetoscope.

Implications For Practice And Research: It is recommended that healthcare systems in low-resource settings consider implementing the Moyo device for FHR monitoring.