Influence on Clinical Practice of Routine Intra-partum Fetal Monitoring

Abstract

An attempt has been made to monitor by continuous fetal heart rate recording all women admitted in labour. Altogether 85% of the 1070 patients delivered at one hospital were monitored in 1973 and 92% in 1974. Perinatal mortality fell significantly from levels in preceding years to 158 and 11.7 per 1000 births, respectively, in 1973 and 1974. The fall was primarily due to the elimination of intrapartum stillbirths and a significant reduction in neonatal mortality. The incidence of caesarean sections also fell from 9.7% in 1973 to 5.8% in 1974. All patients should be monitored because it is impossible to predict reliably intrapartum fetal distress from maternal “high-risk” factors present before the onset of labour. © 1975, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.