1. An apparatus suitable for monitoring the condition of a fetus, said apparatus comprising: a) an input for receiving a signal indicative of a fetal heart rate; b) a processing unit coupled to said input, said processing unit being operative for processing said signal indicative of the fetal heart rate to derive data indicative of a degree of risk of developing a permanent neurological condition, the data indicative of the degree of risk of developing a permanent neurological condition indicating a likelihood that the condition of the fetus belongs to a class in a group of classes, each class in the group of classes being associated with a pre-defined fetal condition; c) an output for releasing the data indicative of the degree of risk of developing a permanent neurological condition.