“…A systematic and rigorous scientific process was used to determine the critical threshold of 30% FSp02 for the fetus during labor (Porter, 2000;Swedlow, 2000). This process included a retrospective search of the scientific literature for evidence demonstrating the existence of a critical threshold for fetal oxygen saturation (Richarson, Carmichael, Homan & Patrick, 1992;Swedlow, ZOOO), prospective research demonstrating the existence of that threshold in well-designed animal studies in a standard obstetric model (Nijland, Jongsma, Nijhuis, van de Berg & Oeseburg, 1995), retrospective examination of the distribution of FSp02 values observed in human fetuses experiencing normal-outcome labor and definition of the threshold at or below the fifth percentile of the normal distribution (Oeseburg et al, 1992), and prospective study for the presence of acceptable predictive agreement between FSp02 and fetal scalp pH (considered the gold standard method of assessing fetal well-being) (Dildy, Thorp, Yeast & Clark, 1996;Kuhnert, Seelbach-Gobel, Butterwegge, 1998;Seelbach-Gobel, Heupel, Kuhnert, Butterwegge, 1999). Based on these data, a 30% FSp02 value is an accurate critical threshold for normal versus hypoxemic values for the fetus during labor.…”