Surveyed use of fetal and uterine monitoring during maternal surgery

The goal of this study was to determine the frequency and methods of intraoperative fetal and uterine monitoring during maternal surgery in the United States. Maternal surgery was defined as nonobstetric surgery during pregnancy that required general or regional anesthesia. We mailed a 21-item questionnaire to the perioperative nurse managers of US hospitals at which more than 2,000 babies are delivered annually (n = 579). Nearly 60% of responding hospitals routinely used some form of fetal monitoring during maternal surgery; more than 40% of responding hospitals did not use intraoperative fetal and uterine monitoring routinely during maternal surgery.