Blood flow in the umbilical artery in maternal hypotonia

Abstract

We performed a study in Doppler sonography in pregnant patients with hypotension compared with women in pregnancy with normal blood pressure. The flow was measured in the foetal aorta, the umbilical artery such as in the A. arcuate and A. cerebri media. Low blood pressure is followed by decreased uteroplacental perfusion. That means a haemodynamic danger for the foetus reflected in significantly increased flow parameters. The low central flow indices show a centralisation of the foetal blood circulating system. These findings describe the importance of hypotension as a risk of pregnancy we have to observe carefully.