Fetal monitor paper at 3cm/min uses how many blocks per minute?

When interpreting fetal monitor paper, it's important to understand how the speed of the paper affects the representation of time. In this case, the paper is moving at a speed of 3 centimeters per minute. Each block typically represents a specific amount of time; this is commonly set as 10 seconds.

To calculate the number of blocks per minute on paper moving at 3 cm/minute, one first determines how many blocks fit into that motion. Since one block is usually 1 cm, this means the paper moves through 3 blocks in one minute. However, fetal heart rate monitor strips are divided into larger blocks: each large block usually contains 5 small blocks (each small block representing 10 seconds). Therefore, if the paper moves at 3 cm/minute, you'll see 3 cm correspond to 3 large blocks in that same timeframe.

To arrive at the final quantity of blocks per minute, we look at how many times 10 seconds fits into a minute: there are 6 segments of 10 seconds in one minute. Each of these corresponds to a small block, reinforcing that there is a total of 6 small blocks represented per minute.

In summary, moving the fetal monitor paper at 3 cm/min clearly indicates that