Ultrasound Assessment of Clear Liquid Intake During Labour

Fluid Intake During Labour, Ultrasound Evaluation

We designed a two arms prospective, randomised, simple blinded trial to compare the impact of clear liquid intake on gastric content before delivery. We hypothesize that there will be no difference between the two groups, leading to safety of clear liquid intake during labour.

Gastric emptying is a major concern for anesthetists in obstetric. In order to prevent the risk of gastric aspiration, we are used to forbid to eat and to drink during labour.

However, this behaviour is controversial and some studies have shown that clear liquid intake can be safe during labour. Informations from a bedside ultrasound examination of the stomach content may be a useful tool to balance benefits and risks of such attitude. This technique has recently been shown very promising in pregnant women for the assessment of the gastric volume.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Any pregnant woman at term

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pathologic pregnancy
• Twin pregnancy
• Body mass index above 35 kg/m2 before pregnancy
• Cervix dilation above 8 cm
• Refusal