Maternal and fetal cardiovascular indices during fetal hypoxia due to cord compression in chronically cannulated sheep. I. Responses to timolol.

Timolol, one of the newer beta-adrenergic antagonists, has less depressive effects on the heart than propranolol, so that it has the potential for use by pregnant women. In chronically cannulated ewes, timolol at 0.01 and 0.1 mg/kg of body weight induced maternal and fetal bradycardia; the higher dose also depressed uterine blood flow and fetal PaO2. When this higher dose preceded brief compression of the umbilical cord, uterine flow was further depressed and the usual posthypoxia rebound tachycardia did not develop. Both the blocking of fetal responses to hypoxia (precluding detection of fetal distress) and the reduction in uterine flow led us to conclude that timolol taken by a mother could pose particular hazards for her fetus in hypoxic conditions, such as during cord compression at parturition.