title: Should national guidelines continue to recommend fetal scalp blood sampling during labor?
abstract: Intrapartum fetal scalp blood sampling (FBS) (pH or lactate) has not been shown to reduce emergency cesarean sections or operative vaginal births or improve long-term perinatal outcomes. In contrast, it is associated with rare but potentially very serious complications such as leakage of cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) and perinatal hemorrhagic shock. Therefore, it does not fulfill the "First Do No Harm" principle and its use during labor should be critically re-evaluated.
authors.affiliation: a St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust , London , UK.
authors.forename: Edwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chandraharan
mesh_terms: D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood; D005323:Fetal Monitoring / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007743:Labor, Obstetric; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D012535:Scalp; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Cesarean section; cerebrospinal fluid; neonatal outcome; scalp hemorrhage