A Standardized Approach for Category II Fetal Heart Rate with Significant Decelerations: Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes.

Objective: To determine if a standardized intervention process for Category II fetal heart rates (FHRs) with significant decels (SigDecels) would improve neonatal outcome and to determine the impact on mode of delivery rates.

Study Design: Patients with Category II FHRs from six hospitals were prospectively managed using a standardized approach based on the presence of recurrent SigDecels. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were compared between pre- (6 months) and post-(11 months) implementation. Neonatal outcomes were: 5-minute APGAR scores of <7, <5, <3, and severe unexpected newborn complications (UNC). Maternal outcomes included primary cesarean and operative vaginal birth rates of eligible deliveries.

Results: Post implementation there were 8,515 eligible deliveries, 3,799 (44.6%) were screened, and 361 (9.5%) met criteria for recurrent SigDecels. Compliance with the algorithm was 97.8%. The algorithm recommended delivery in 68.0% of cases. Relative to pre-implementation, 5-minute APGAR score of <7 were reduced by 24.6% ( < 0.05) and severe UNC by -26.6%,  = < .05. The rate of primary cesarean decreased (19.8 vs 18.3%,  < 0.05), while there were nonsignificant increases in vaginal (74.6 vs 75.8%,  = 0.13) and operative vaginal births (5.7 vs 5.9%,  = 0.6).

Conclusion: Standardized management of recurrent SigDecels reduced the rate of 5-minute APGAR scores of < 7 and severe UNC.