Guidelines for blood sampling and measurement of pH and blood gas values in obstetrics. Based upon a workshop held in Zurich, Switzerland, March 19, 1993 by an Ad Hoc Committee.

Guidelines for the clinical indications for measuring pH and blood gas values in fetal blood, the procedures of blood sampling and measurement and some reference values for the evaluation of the data are given. They cover: prenatal sampling of blood from the umbilical vessels in conjunction with cordocentesis, intra partum sampling of fetal capillary blood by skin puncture of the presenting part, post partum sampling of blood from a clamped section of the umbilical cord and general analytical techniques.

Resuscitation of asphyxic newborn infants with room air or 100% oxygen.

To test the hypothesis that room air is superior to 100% oxygen when asphyxiated newborns are resuscitated, 84 neonates (birth weight > 999 g) with heart rate < 80 and/or apnea at birth were allocated to be resuscitated with either room air (n = 42) or 100% oxygen (n = 42). Serial, unblinded observations of heart rates at 1, 3, 5, and 10 min and Apgar scores at 1 min revealed no significant differences between the two groups. At 5 min, median (25th and 75th percentile) Apgar scores were higher in the room air than in the oxygen group [8 (7-9) versus 7 (6-8), p = 0.

The variability of cardiopulmonary adaptation to pregnancy at rest and during exercise.

Objective: To examine the cardiopulmonary adaptation to normal pregnancy in sitting women during rest and bicycle exercise.

Design: A longitudinal study beginning early in pregnancy and ending 8-12 months after delivery.

Setting: University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.

Frontiers in perinatal medicine.

A few of the topics of particular interest in perinatal medicine such as surfactants, erythropoietin, cordocentesis and computer assisted decision support are briefly reviewed. Asphyxia and oxygen toxicity are discussed as is the increase in the formation of free radicals which is part of reoxygenation. The infinitely larger problem of the poor in developing countries can best be improved--at least partially--by extending family planning techniques universally, otherwise the population explosion will counteract any other improvements.