The merit of routine cord blood pH measurement at birth
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F. P. H. A. Vandenbussche
Abstract
We searched the literature for mean values of arterial cord blood pH at birth and their lower limits of statistical normality. An arterial cord blood pH, correctly sampled, measured, validated, and interpreted, provides the most objective and sensitive index for fetal hypoxemia during labor. We advise to sample both artery and vein from a clamped segment of the cord within 30 minutes after birth. In accordance with physiological and statistical evidence, it is proposed to classify arterial cord blood pH in three categories: normal (when > 7.11), abnormal (when < 6.99), and borderline (7.00–7.11). An abnormal pH indicates that the fetus was in a state of biochemical decompensation at birth. Disadvantages of routine measurement include extra work load and the lack of a universally agreed definition of normal or abnormal pH. The major advantage of routine measurement is to provide care-givers with immediate feedback on their care during childbirth and an opportunity to learn from that feedback.
Copyright (c)1999 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
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Articles in the same Issue
- The study of morphology and circulation of early embryo by three-dimensional ultrasound and power Doppler
- The merit of routine cord blood pH measurement at birth
- The influence of maternal erythrocyte deformability on fetal growth, gestational age and birthweight
- Reproductive choice in individuals HIV-1 infected in South Eastern Italy
- The sensitivity of the trivariate analysis using maternal serum alpha-feto protein, human chorionic gonadotrophin and maternal age in screening for fetal aneuploidy in mothers above the age of 35
- Neonatal and pediatric outcome of infants born to mothers with Antiphospholipid Syndrome
- Changes in cervical resistance and collagen fluorescence during gestation in rats
- The study of maternal and fetal plasma catecholamines levels during pregnancy and delivery
- Is adolescent pregnancy associated with adverse perinatal outcome?
- Physical exercise during pregnancy - physiological considerations and recommendations
- Endothelin-1 levels in infants with pulmonary hypertension receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
- Maternal and neonatal outcome of twin pregnancies complicated by single fetal death
- A fatal case of congenital disseminated langerhans cell histiocytosis
- Treatment of severe postpartum hemorrhage by rectally administered gemeprost pessaries
