FETAL FIBRONECTIN IN THE CERVICAL SECRETION PREDICTS ACCURATELY THE ONSET OF LABOR AT TERM

Objective: The objective of our study was to check if presence of feta l fibronectin in the cervical secretion of full term patient predicts accurately the onset of labour at term. Study design: 78 women in the term period were included in the study, serial samples for fetal fibro nectin were assessed, each patient underwent spontaneous labour, delay between last sample and delivery were analysed. Results: Patient with positive fetal fibronectin delivered within 3 +/- 1.9 days where as p atient with negative fetal fibronectin delivered within 5.7 +/- 3.9 da ys (P = 0.01). Conclusion: Presence of fetal fibronectin in cervical s ecretions seems to be a powerful tool to predict in a short delay the onset of labour at term, it should be used in conjunction with clinica l and fetal assessment data. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.