Intra-uterine deaths after suspicious, uncertain and normal antenatal fetal heart rate monitoring.
Stressed and non-stressed antenatal fetal monitoring was carried out 9 520 times in 5 932 high-risk patients. Intra-uterine death occurred in 48 patients. In 19 patients the fetus died within 1 week of monitoring but before the onset of labour; the results of monitoring had been normal in 14 of these. Abruptio placentae was the cause of 6 of these deaths. Many of the other causes of intra-uterine death were also acute complications such as haemorrhage due to placenta praevia, amniotic fluid infection, and cord prolapse. True false-negative test results were rare, and were seen most often in patients with preeclampsia, diabetes and haemolytic disease. Twin pregnancies also caused a problem, as double recording of the heart rate of the normal fetus could create a false sense of security.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000209:etiology*; D005318:Fetal Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D005323:Fetal Monitoring; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D010121:Oxytocin; D011247:Pregnancy; D014590:Uterine Contraction
D010121:Oxytocin