Electronic monitoring evidence of fetal distress in high-risk pregnancies.

The oxytocin challenge test (OCT) has been shown in other studies to be valuable in evaluating high-risk pregnancies. The purpose of this study was to show the relationship of various disease states and clinical conditions with OCT results and fetal performance in labor. Of a group of normal patients, 4% had positive OCTs or late decelerations (LDs) in labor. The incidence of positive OCTs or LDs in labor in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) class B-R was 23.2%; in DM class A, 27.6%; in intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), 26.2%; in pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), 27.6%; in chronic hypertension (CH), 13.6%; and in prolonged gestation, 10.8%. This study shows that DM of all classes, IUGR and PIH are the most likely conditions in which persistent LDs will occur.