A system for monitoring a fetus in a pregnant woman, and/or the maternal health risk for pregnancies complicated by such as pre-eclampsia and hypertensive disorders is configured to be worn by the pregnant woman, preferably so as to allow monitoring during daily life, e.g. in the form of an adhesive patch. The unit has a sound sensor, e.g. a microphone or accelerometer, to be positioned on the skin of the abdominal area so as to detect a vascular sound from umbilical arteries of the fetus or from the uterine arteries of the pregnant woman. The sound sensor is functionally connected to a processing unit which executes a processing algorithm on the captured vascular sound and extracts a signal parameter accordingly. The processing unit then communicates the signal parameter, e.g. using an audio signal, a visual display or by means of a wired or a wireless data signal.
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