Prenatal and Intrapartum EFM

External monitoring is currently the most common EFM method. Although external monitoring is not as accurate as internal monitoring, it is easy to use, non-invasive, non-radiative, and cost-efficient. Moreover, it does not require rupturing fetal membranes, which increases the chance of fetal intrauterine infections. As such, it is a broadly applied method. See Fig. 4.1.