Umbilical cord venous progesterone at term delivery in relation to mode of delivery

Objective: To determine whether the umbilical cord venous progesterone at term delivery is related to the mode of delivery. Methods: Thirty-nine pregnant patients at term were divided into three groups: elective cesarean section (control), spontaneous vaginal delivery, and emergency cesarean section. Umbilical cord venous and maternal serum progesterone were measured by radioimmunoassay. Statistical analysis was carried out using Student's t-test, with the level of significance set at P < 0.05. Results: Umbilical cord venous progesterone was significantly higher in babies delivered by emergency cesarean section (P < 0.001) and in those who had spontaneous vaginal delivery (P < 0.02), compared with the control group. Maternal serum progesterone concentrations showed no significant differences between the three groups. The Apgar scores of the stressed group of babies were significantly lower (P < 0.001). Conclusion: The findings demonstrate that the fetuses exposed to stress during labor produce higher progesterone secretion. This could be one possible way the fetus protects itself against the sequelae of hypoxia.