The study comprised 120 pregnant women admi tted for labour augmentation, and their newborns. The cases were divided into 4 equal groups. Group I received 10 U oxytocin plus < 500 ml Normal saline, group 11 10 U oxytocin plus > 1000 ml normal saline, group Ill: 10 U oxytocin plus < 500 ml dextrose 5% and group IV 10 U oxytocin plus > 100(1 ml dextrose 5%. A highly significant correlation was found between maternal and neo-natal cord scrum sodium (Na) ) levels (P < 0.01). Hyponatraernia developed in 20% of newborns. 62.5% of hyponatraemic newborns developed jaundice versus 13.5% of normonatracmic newborns (P < 0.001). Cord serum Na level was significantly reduced in newborns whose mothers re-ceived > 1L glucose 5%. A highly significant negative correlation was detected between cord serum Na and bilirubin levels 24 hours after birth in the hyponatraemic group. Neona-tal jaundice may develop in other cases due to other mechanisms associated with the use of oxytocin. Introduction Neonatal jaundice is a common problem and in about 5% of all babies the serum bilirubin level rises above 200 u mol/L (12 mg/dl) (Gray, 1988). Wood et al. (1979) found that the inci-dence of serum bilirubin > 12 mg/dl ranged between 8 and 20% during the first week of life. Recently, there have been several reports of hyponatraemia in the new-born occurring after induction of la-bour with oxytocin when the mother receives no electrolyte solution during labour.
Aim of the Work This work aims to study the effects of the type and volume of intravenous fluids used with oxytocin during la-bour, on neo-natal scrum bilirubin lev-el. Material and Methods This study included 120 pregnant women, admitted in the obstetric unit of Bcnha University Hospitals during the period from July to November 1991 . All women were medically free, had gestational age betwcen37 and 42 |
