Fetal distress and the condition of the newborn using cardiotocography and fetal blood analysis during labour

1471-0528

Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005

Medicine

Summary. The efficacy of electronic fetal monitoring combined with fetal blood analysis during labour in identifying fetal distress was investigated in a retrospective study. Operative delivery for fetal distress diagnosed during labour was performed in 9% of 2659 deliveries. All had continuous fetal heart rate monitoring and 22% had a fetal scalp blood analysis. Operative delivery had been performed in 53% of the infants who were acidotic at birth (umbilical artery pH 〈7.20) and in 46% of those with a low modified Apgar score (〈7). These results show that the use of continuous fetal heart rate monitoring and fetal scalp blood sampling detects fetal distress without resulting in a high rate of operative delivery.

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