Clear liquor in labour-How safe a sign?

A retrospective clinical analysis of the 66 intrapartum deaths which occurred among the 41, 613 births at the Rotunda Hospital during the 8-year period January 1970 to December 1977 was made to ascertain the importance of clear liquor as a sign of fetal health. Clear liquor was noted in 34 (51%) of the 66 deaths. The clinical features of the case suggest that clear liquor may not always be relied upon as a sign of fetal well-being, that the routine reservation of specialised intrapartum fetal monitoring facilities to high-risk cases may contribute to unexpected deaths and that accidental haemorrhage may occur without being recognised and result in intrapartum death before the clinician can be guided by cardiography.