Maternal and fetal outcomes in meconium-stained amniotic fluid deliveries in a tertiary center

Backgrounds and objectives: Meconium -stained liquor could be an alarming sign of fetal distress and needs continuous fetal heart rate monitoring and urgent interventions. The study aimed to determine maternal and fetal outcomes among women presented with meconium-stained amniotic fluid during labor in relation to mode of delivery, rate of caesarian section, Admission to neonatal intensive care unit and neonatal complications and mortality. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Duhok Obestetric and Gynecology Teaching Hospital between 1st of September 2019 and 1st of April 2020 where 100 women in labor diagnosed with meconium stained amniotic fluid gestational age between (37_40+6 weeks) included in this study, all participants were meet inclusion criteria for this study and a written consent obtained from them. Results: The study showed that out of 100 participants with meconium stained liquor 48% of them delivered by lower segment cesarean section and the cause of 76.6% of them was fetal distress .The study showed significant statistical association between meconium stained liquor and lower mean scores of APGAR scores at 1 and 5 min , and rate of neonatal intensive care unit admission which was 74 (74.0%) and neonatal complications rate such as meconium Aspiration Syndrome (31.0%), Respiratory Distress Syndrome (14.0%), and Early Neonatal Death (3.0%) ,the study showed that women with spontaneous rupture membrane and thick meconium were significantly more likely to have infants with meconium aspiration syndrome; 46.2% and 48.1% respectively. Conclusions: This study showed that women in labor with meconium-stained amniotic fluid had higher fetal and maternal complications