[Medical-legal aspects: the obstetrician as a defendant or as an expert]

Most claims ab out term intrapartum fetal asphyxia (or cerebral palsy presumed to be in relation with it) are based on abnormal intrapartum fetal heart rate patterns, and presumed excessive delay from decision-to-delivery and/or inadequate care. For the obstetrician, whether as a defendant or a judicial expert, the difficulty lies in data interpretation which should not be reduced to an analysis of fetal monitoring, but should consider the context, the explorations used to be sure of abnormal fetal heart rate interpretation, and appropriate delay for delivery in light of the findings.