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Maternal haematocrit in labour is related to fetal cord pH at delivery
N J Saunders1, H Spiby, D Patel
1Northern General Hospital, Sheffield.
Objective:
To determine whether a correlation exists between maternal haematocrit in labour and umbilical cord pH values at delivery.
Design:
An observational study.
Setting:
The delivery suite.
Subjects:
200 pregnant women in labour.
Main Outcome Measures:
Umbilical artery and vein blood pH values.
Results:
A statistically significant inverse correlation was observed between maternal haematocrit levels during labour and umbilical vein pH (r = -0.22; P = 0.001) and umbilical artery pH (r = -0.18; P = 0.008) at delivery.
Conclusions:
Although an inverse correlation does appear to exist between maternal haematocrit and cord pH values, it is unlikely that this weak association will prove to be of clinical value in the management of labour.