Very High Intrapartum Fever in Term Pregnancies and Adverse Obstetric and Neonatal Outcomes

Intrapartum fever is a well-known risk factor for adverse perinatal outcomes. Maternal intrapartum fever ≥39.0°C at term is a rare event during labor, and there is scarce evidence regarding its implications.

To investigate the association between very high intrapartum maternal fever and perinatal outcomes in term pregnancies.

A retrospective cohort analysis including 43,560 term, singleton live births in two medical centers between the years 2003 and 2011 was performed. We compared parturients who experienced a maximal intrapartum fever of <38.0°C with two subgroups of parturients who experienced respective maximal fevers of 38.0-38.9°C and ≥39°C. Adjusted risks for adverse perinatal outcomes were calculated by using multiple logistic regression models to control for confounders.

Compared with normal intrapartum temperature, intrapartum fever ≥39.0°C was associated with an extremely elevated risk for neonatal sepsis 16.08 (95% CI: 2.15, 120.3) as well as with low Apgar scores and neonatal intensive care unit admissions (p < 0.001). Additionally, very high intrapartum fever was related to significantly higher risk for operative delivery (p < 0.001).

Extremely elevated intrapartum fever is an important indicator of severe neonatal morbidity and operative delivery.