Editorial
Loutradis Dimitris
1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology School of Medicine National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Maternal quality of life during the antenatal period is of crucial importance as pregnancy is one of the finest periods throughout the life of a woman. Antenatal testing and anticipation of the results may, however, be stressful for some women. Fetal cardiotocography is routinely performed during the third trimester of pregnancy in Greece, however, its results are not always unequivocal. It is believed that maternal anxiety may, partially, affect fetal heart rate and result in cardiotocographic alterations that can erroneously result in an unnecessary increase of cases of induced labor, or even worse increase cesarean section rates. The beneficial effect of music during the postoperative period has been proved in various studies which suggest that it can serve as an adjunct to pain medication and contributes to increased patient satisfaction. Its effect during the conduct of non-stress test has not been tested, to date. In the present issue novel evidence suggests that not only it diminishes maternal anxiety during its conduct but it may also decrease the number of false-positive tests that indicate fetal distress.