Maternal febrile morbidity associated with fetal monitoring and cesarean section.

The maternal febrile morbidity for 793 patients undergoing cesarean section was analyzed. The influence of length of labor, duration of ruptured membranes, and fetal heart rate monitoring was studied in both clinic and private patients. Morbidity among private patients was found to be consistently higher in monitored patients with comparable lengths of labor and durations of membrane rupture. The number of vaginal examinations, duration of monitoring, or number of fetal scalp electrode applications did not effect morbidity outcome.