Consequences of intrauterine acidosis for early morbidity of term newborn infants.

OBJECTIVES: The study was designed to evaluate early morbidity of term newborn infants according to the umbilical artery pH and umbilical artery base excess. STUDY DESIGN: The study was based on the 1 173 infants who were born at term in the study period in 1997 with a UA-pH below 7.20. A retrospective review was carried out of maternal and infant records during the study period. All data were evaluated using SPSS for windows. RESULTS: Apgar-values and UA-pH correlated closely, the rate of 1-minute Apgar scores < 7 increased with decreasing UA-pH. The rate of 5-minute Apgar score < 7 increased strongly with UA-pH below 7.00. The study showed how closely UA-pH values are related to UA-BE values. Of newborns with UA-BE values of 0 to - 9 mmol / l 7 % had 1-minute Apgar scores < 7, 53 % of cases with UA-BE