Host: Michael Benson, MD

Guest: Catherine Spong, MD

In the early 1970's, fetal monitoring technology escaped from the laboratory into the clinical environment in a rapid, almost chaotic sequence of events. The assumption upon which fetal monitoring was based was that most mental retardation and cerebral palsy occurs from lack of oxygen during labor, and is therefore preventable. We now that this assumption if false and the benefits of fetal monitoring are seemingly far less than originally hoped. In contrast, the NIH Maternal Fetal Medicine network is a very well designed approach to evaluating treatments before they become the standard of care. In this segment, Dr. Spong overviews some of the prior to currently active studies being conducted by this organization.