Should national guidelines continue to recommend fetal scalp blood sampling during labor?
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.
['Chandraharan|Edwin|E|']
D001800:Blood Specimen Collection D005260:Female D005312:Fetal Blood D005323:Fetal Monitoring D006801:Humans D007743:Labor, Obstetric D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic D011247:Pregnancy D012535:Scalp D006113:United Kingdom
Cesarean section cerebrospinal fluid neonatal outcome scalp hemorrhage