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In an effort to improve our ability to determine the state of fetal health and behavior, 13 biophysical techniques seldom used in obstetrics were evaluated in either antenatal clinics or labor wards. Fetal reponse to sound, systolic time intervals, arterial pulse propagation, and recording of fetal activity patterns were found to be the most promising techniques. Since no fetal monitoring method has been demonstrated to conclusively be of clinical benefit, a plea is made for regional plans in which many different promising biophysical techniques are evaluated by different institutions. Perhaps certain techniques will then be found to be helpful and thus justify the cost and effort that monitoring requires.