Fetal heart rate (FHR) variability appears to be an "early warning system" of fetal hypoxia. FHR variability has been utilized in clinical practice to examine fetal wellbeing. Since 1976 we have used a standardized scoring system to evaluate the cardiotocograph. To eliminate subjective aspects in FHR variability analysis we propose a programmable device utilizing a microprocessor. Preliminary results encourage us to continue this research.