A STUDY ON THE CLINICAL AND PARACLINICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND PREGNANCY OUTCOMES IN LABORING WOMEN WITH CATEGORY II FETAL HEART RATE TRACING
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Labor is a physiologically stressful process for the fetus, requiring close monitoring by healthcare professionals to promptly detect potential threats to fetal well-being. Objectives: To describe the clinical and paraclinical characteristics, evaluate pregnancy outcomes, and identify associated factors among women presenting with Category II FHR tracings. Materials and methods: The study included 310 pregnant women with Category II CTG during the first stage of labor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Binh Duong General Hospital, from May 2025 to July 2026. Results: The mean age was 27.69 ± 7.35 years. The majority of subjects had no underlying maternal comorbidities (95.8%) and no pregnancy complications (87.8%). Rupture of membranes (ROM) occurred in 59.0% of cases, of which 27.9% presented with abnormal amniotic fluid color. Regarding cardiotocography (CTG) characteristics, variable decelerations were predominant at 92.9%, while a normal baseline fetal heart rate (110–160 bpm) was observed in 74.5% of cases. Regarding pregnancy outcomes, the cesarean delivery rate was 47.1% (with fetal distress as the indication in 31.6% of cases); 87.4% of neonates had a 1-minute Apgar score ≥ 7, and 1.9% required admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Multivariate analysis identified statistically significant risk factors associated with adverse neonatal outcomes, including: maternal underlying comorbidities (OR = 14.17), rupture of membranes (OR = 4.26), pregnancy complications (OR = 2.77), and cesarean delivery (OR = 2.70). Conclusion: Clinical and paraclinical profiles were predominantly characterized by rupture of membranes and variable decelerations on CTG. Multivariate model analysis confirmed maternal underlying comorbidities, rupture of membranes, pregnancy complications, and cesarean delivery as significant factors increasing the risk of adverse neonatal outcomes.
Keywords
Fetal distress, Category II fetal heart rate tracing, pregnancy outcome
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References
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