Information Dynamics of the Mother–Fetus System Using Kolmogorov–Sinai Entropy Derived from Heart Sounds: A Longitudinal Study from Early Pregnancy to Postpartum

Kolmogorov–Sinai (KS) entropy is an indicator of the chaotic behavior of entire systems from an information-theoretic viewpoint. Here, we used KS entropy values derived from the heart sounds of four fetus–mother pairs to identify the changes in fetal and maternal informational patterns during the four phases of pregnancy (early, mid, late, and postnatal). Time-series data of the heart sounds were reconstructed in a five-dimensional phase space to obtain the Lyapunov spectrum, and KS entropy was calculated. Statistical analyses were then conducted separately for the fetus and mother for the four phases of pregnancy. The fetal KS entropy significantly increased from early pregnancy to the postnatal period (0.054 ± 0.007 vs. 0.097 ± 0.007; p < 0.001), whereas the maternal KS entropy decreased in late pregnancy and then significantly increased after birth (0.098 ± 0.002 vs. 0.133 ± 0.003; p < 0.001). The increase in KS entropy with the course of fetal gestation reflects an increase in information generation and adaptive capacity during the developmental process. Thus, changes in maternal KS entropy play a dual role, temporarily enhancing physiological stability to support fetal development and helping to rebuild the mother’s own adaptive capacity in the postpartum period.