Amniocentesis in high-risk pregnancies in a rural hospital

A series of 100 successive amniocenteses performed on rural patients with high-risk pregnancies is described. The shake test was found to correlate well with gestational age as well as with fetal lung maturity, a practical point of importance in areas without facilities for estimating the lecithin/sphingomyelin (L/S) ratio. While the procedure is not without risk, and the shake test should not be used as the sole criterion in management, amniocentesis is useful to those working with minimal facilities among a poorly educated community who have a high rate of obstetric complications.