ACID-BASE STATUS AND CLINICAL CONDITION OF MOTHER AND FOETUS FOLLOWING METHOXYFLURANE ANAESTHESIA FOR VAGINAL DELIVERY

Abstract

The acid-base status and clinical condition of twenty-six healthy mothers and their newborns following uncomplicated spontaneous or low forceps delivery under methoxyflurane-oxygen anaesthesia were studied and the effects of light and deep planes of anaesthesia compared. There were no significant disturbances in the acid-base status of the mother before anaesthesia and at delivery or of the foetus following light as compared with deep anaesthesia. However, the time to sustained respiration increased significantly in the newborns subjected to deeper planes or longer periods of anaesthesia, and the incidence of 1-minute Apgar scores of 7 rose. Methoxyflurane administered to the mother during labour and delivery does not appear to alter the biochemical status of the foetus but does depress the central nervous system subsequent to transplacental passage.