Table 2  Baseline values and total fluids (oral plus intravenous) given until birth
Control group elective caesarean (n = 26) n(%)  Total fluids given until birth  Chi-square P value  Fischer P value
Fluid group 1 <1000 ml (n = 113) n(%)  Fluid group 2 1000–2500 ml (n = 87) n(%)  Fluid group 3 >2500 ml (n = 61) n(%)
Initial groups*
Vaginal <4 hours  —  88 (78)  20 (23)  1 (2)
Vaginal >4 hours, no epidural  —  13 (12)  34 (39)  6 (10)
Vaginal >4 hours with epidural  —  0 (0)  30 (34)  40 (66)
Emergency caesarean section  —  12 (11)  3 (3)  14 (23)
Elective caesarean section  26 (100)  0 (0)  0 (0)  0 (0)
Parity
Nullipara  12 (46)  23 (20)  44 (51)  46 (75)
Multipara  14 (54)  90 (80)  43 (49)  15 (25)  <0.001  <0.001
Complications
Gestational diabetes  0 (0)  0 (0)  3 (3)  0 (0)
Pre-eclampsia  0 (0)  3 (3)  0 (0)  5 (8)
Hypertension  0 (0)  5 (4)  1 (1)  1 (2)
Onset of labour
None  26 (100)  5 (4)  0 (0)  0 (0)
Induction  —  8 (7)  7 (8)  8 (13)
Spontaneous  —  100 (88)  80 (92)  53 (87)  0.455**
Delivery
Vaginal, spontaneous  —  98 (87)  71 (82)  37 (61)  0.001***  0.001
Vaginal, instrumental***  —  3 (3)  13 (15)  10 (16)
Caesarean section  26 (100)  12 (11)  3 (3)  14 (23)
Indication for caesarean section
Breech  17 (65)  6 (5)  0 (0)  0 (0)
Previous uterine operation  7 (27)  0 (0)  0 (0)  0 (0)
Fetal asphyxia  —  1 (1)  1 (1)  1 (2)
Failure to progress  —  2 (2)  2 (2)  12 (20)
Others  2 (8)  3 (3)  0 (0)  1 (2)
Analgesia
Epidural****  —  1 (1)  36 (41)  52 (85)
Spinal  —  1 (1)  3 (3)  0 (0)
Oxytocin
Yes  —  14 (12)  57 (66)  59 (97)  <0.001  <0.001
≥5 units  —  1 (1)  12 (14)  27 (44)   0.012*****
Maternal p-Na
≤130 mmol/l  0 (0)  1 (1)  4 (5)  16 (26)  <0.001  0.001
Maternal p-glucose
>12 mmol/l  0 (0)  2 (2)  2 (2)  7 (11)  0.013  0.009
Infant
Apgar <7 at 1 minute  0 (0)  4 (4)  5 (6)  5 (8)  0.219
Apgar <7 at 5 minutes  0 (0)  1 (1)  0 (0)  0 (0)
Weight loss >10%  1 (4)  2 (2)  3 (3)  5 (8)   0.050
Hypoglycaemia  2 (8)  4 (4)  3 (3)  2 (3)   1.00
Respiratory problem  1 (4)  5 (4)  7 (8)  8 (13)  0.065
Group differences are compared with chi-square test. When significant differences are found or when cases are few, Fischer's exact test is performed to analyse differences between fluid groups 1 and 3.
*  Vaginal <4 hours or <4 hours: Vaginal delivery, labour of shorter or longer duration than 4 hours. Epidural: epidural or spinal analgesia.
**  Induction versus spontaneous onset of labour.
***  Vaginal spontaneous delivery versus instrumental vaginal delivery plus delivery by emergency caesarean section.
****  One woman received combined spinal-epidural analgesia during labour.
*****  Calculation only includes women who received oxytocin for augmentation of labour.