The effect of continuous electronic fetal monitoring during the second stage of labor on newborn outcome

Objective To evaluate the clinical validity of continuous electronic fetal monitoring(EFM) during the second stage of labor. Methods A total of 1 979 pregnant women with gestational age ≥37 weeks in our hospital in the period from Jan.2007 to Dec.2007(as monitoring group) received continuous electronic fetal monitoring during the second stage of labor.And 1 596 pregnant women with same gestational age(as control group) delivered in our hospital in the period between Jan.2006 and Dec.2006 were monitored by intermittent auscultation and selectivity monitoring during the second stage of labor for fetal heart examination. Results The pregnant women in monitoring group had a significantly lower neonatal asphyxia rate compared with those in control group(P0.05).Twenty-seven cases in monitoring group suffered from neonatal asphyxia(1.36%),in which 10 cases were mild and 17 cases were severe.While there were 45 cases of neonatal asphyxia(2.82%) including 26 mild ones(1.63%) and 19 severe ones(1.19%).There were no significant differences between the two groups as for forceps delivery(P0.05),which were 119(83.22%) in monitoring group and 79(72.48%) in control group.Meanwhile,there were significant differences(P0.01) in neonatal asphyxia between monitoring group and control group,which were 12(44.44%) and 38(84.44%),respectively. Conclusions Application of continuous electronic fetal monitoring during the second stage of labor slightly increases vaginal operative delivery rate.However,the neonatal asphyxia rate was decreased.