Amniotic fluid volume as a predictor of fetal distress in postterm pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the efficacy of amniotic fluid volume (AFV) assessment in predicting intrapartum fetal distress in postterm pregnancy compared with the conventional nonstress test (NST).

METHOD: A prospective study of 252 postterm patients who underwent antepartum assessment of AFV and NST with intrapartum continuous FHR monitoring was conducted and subjected to analysis.

RESULT: AFV was significantly more accurate in predicting intrapartum fetal distress than the NST with sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 72.73%, 90.87%, 26.67% and 98.65%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

AFV assessment was an effective method in predicting fetal distress in postterm pregnancy.