Strengths
Currently there is a limited number of prospective studies examining the relation between umbilical cord arterial pH and labour outcome in a cohort of women with term pregnancy and prelabour maternal-foetal Dopplers, cCTG STV, and Dawes-Redman criteria. The strengths of this study are the extensive evaluation of various maternal and labour characteristics, maternal-foetal Doppler velocimetry and FHR parameters to predict birth outcomes and the demonstration of the correlation between cCTG STV and umbilical cord arterial pH. Another strength is the ability to blind clinicians, midwives, and researchers to the results of the Doppler indices and the cCTG, thus the findings of the Doppler and cCTG assessment did not influence the management of labour.