Perinatal oxygen environment. II. Influence of maternal anesthesia and type of delivery upon oxygen tension of umbilical cord blood and amniotic fluid.

Abstract 1. 1. The effects of routine obstetric practices involving maternal anesthesia and forceps delivery upon the oxygenation of fetal blood and amniotic fluid have been studied. 2. 2. Cyclopropane anesthesia increased fetal pO 2 while nitrous oxide produced no significant change. 3. 3. Newborn infants delivered by low forceps had an increase in fetal pO 2 which was not attributed to anesthesia. Those delivered by midforceps had a decrease in fetal pO 2 . 4. 4. Amniotic fluid pO 2 was consistently increased with 100 per cent oxygen or cyclopropane anesthesia inhalation.