DALLAS, Nov. 22 (UPI) -- A fetal oxygen monitor called OxiFirst does not change the rate of Caesarean sections or affect fetal health when used in labor, according to a U.S. study.
The multi-center trial was led by Steven Bloom of UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. It was sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which conditionally approved OxiFirst in the year 2000.
Physicians at 14 university hospitals studied the effect of the device on the labor of 5,341 first-time mothers. Specialized oximetry sensors were fed through the cervix and positioned against the fetus' face to measure the level of oxygen in its blood. Half the clinicians in the study could see the oxygen readings and half could not while they delivered the babies.
The rates of Caesarean section, forceps delivery, and vacuum deliver were similar in both groups, as was the overall health of the babies. There also was no difference in labor complications between the two groups.
For more information, see this week's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
