1. Nine cases are drawn from records of this laboratory which show that fetal electrocardiogram abnormalities were seen in a variety of instances associated with difficulty for the fetus.2. The abnormal characteristics of the fetal ECG included wide or unusual wave-forms for the fetal QRS, ST segment depression or elevation, notching of the QRS, beat-to-beat alterations in the amplitude or rhythm of fetal cardiac bioelectric signals.3. It is believed that wide use of fetal electrocardiographic technique needs to be made in early and late pregnancy, so as to lay the basis for adequate assessment of the fetal electrocardiogram in a given case, in labor.4. Suggestions are made for a new approach to the grading of intrauterine difficulty for the fetus.