Cesarean versus vaginal delivery in abruptio placentae associated with live fetuses.

In order to test the relative effectiveness of cesarean section and vaginal delivery in mild abruptio placentae associated with live fetuses, 23 consecutive patients were delivered vaginally and 18 by cesarean section over an 18-month period at the University of Ife Hospital in Nigeria. The perinatal mortality of the vaginal delivery group (52.2%) was significantly greater than that of those delivered by cesarean section (16.7%) (P greater than 0.02; less than 0.05; chi 2 test). The 1-min Apgar score test was also significantly greater than that of those delivered by cesarean section (P greater than 0.001). These differences have been attributed to the admission-to-delivery interval, which was significantly longer in the vaginal delivery group (12 h vs. 2 h). It is concluded that cesarean section is clearly superior to vaginal delivery in the management of abruptio placentae associated with live fetuses.