Haematological indices of the mother and baby during labour.

Haematological indices were obtained by Coulter Counter analysis from 325 women in the first stage of labour, and from the cord blood of their newborn babies. The mean maternal haemoglobin concentration was 12.49 g/dl and the mean cord haemoglobin 16.18 g/dl. The mean corpuscular volume measured directly was 89.00 fl from maternal blood and 106.73 fl from the cord blood; the two ranges barely overlapped and it should be possible by automated analysis to differentiate between fetal and maternal blood obtained at amniocentesis or artificial rupture of the membranes at term.