The effect of early second stage bradycardia on newborn status

Abstract In the present study 45 patients with intrapartum cardiotocograms showing prolonged fetal bradycardia during the early second stage of labor were included. Bradycardia persisted for 180 s or more with either rapid or prolonged return to baseline, without loss of variability and rise of baseline fetal heart rate (FHR). The mean duration of bradycardia was 5.0 ± 1.3 min. In the group with normal FHR tracings the rate of normal delivery (73.3%) was significantly higher than that of the group with fetal bradycardia (26.7%, P P