1 Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London, England
In recent years the search for a means of improving the physical and mental health of children has inevitably led to a more critical assessment of the influence of intrauterine environment, particularly with regard to intrapartum asphyxia.
In this paper the current state of knowledge concerning the methodology and clinical results from utilizing the two most widely used techniques for monitoring the fetus in labor-continuous fetal heart monitoring and fetal blood sampling will be discussed.