Table 1.
The effect of continuous EFM versus intermittent auscultation on the incidence of deaths attributable to intrapartum hypoxia
| No. of patients in the EFM group | No. of patients in the IA group | No. of perinatal deaths | Perinatal deaths due to fetal hypoxia | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study | EFM | IA | EFM | IA | ||
| Haverkamp et al (1976) [45] | 242 | 241 | 2 (FD 0, ND 2) | 1 (FD 0, ND 1) | 0 | 0 |
| Renou et al (1976) [46] | 175 | 175 | 1 (FD 0, ND1) | 1 (FD 1, ND 0) | 0 | 1 (FD) |
| Kelso et al (1978) [47] | 253 | 251 | 0 | 1 (FD 0, ND 1) | 0 | 1 (ND) |
| Haverkamp et al (1979) [48] | 230 229 | 231 | 3 (FD 0, ND 3) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wood et al (1981) [49] | 445 | 482 | 1 (FD 0, ND 1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MacDonald et al (1985) [8] | 6474 | 6490 | 14 (FD 3, ND 11) | 14 (FD 2, ND 12) | 7 (FD 3, ND 4) | 7 (FD 2, ND 5) |
| Neldam at al (1986) [50] | 482 | 487 | 0 | 1 (FD 1, ND 0) | 0 | 1 (FD) |
| Luthy et al (1987) [51] | 122 | 124 | 17 (FD 1, ND 16) | 18 (FD 1, ND 17) | 0 | 1 (FD) |
| Vintzileos et al (1993) [52] | 746 | 682 | 2 (FD 0, ND 2) | 9 (FD 2,ND 7) | 0 | 6 (FD 2, ND 4) |
| Total | 9398 | 9163 | 40 (4.2/1000) | 45 (4.9/1000) | 7 (0.7/1000)a | 17 (1.8/1000)a |
EFM electronic fetal monitoring, IA intermittent auscultation, FD fetal (intrapartum) death, ND neonatal death
aStatistically significant difference; Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio 0.42 (95 % confidence interval 0.17 to 0.98)