Presentation Information

Does meconium deserve its crap reputation?

• Speaker: Silke Teresa Powell , RM
• Presentation Type:
• Duration: 60 Mins
• Credits: 1 CERP, 1 ACM CPD, 1 ACNM CEU, 0.1 Midwifery CEU

Abstract:

Controversy surrounds the causes of in-utero meconium passage and the diagnosis of Meconium Aspiration Syndrome. The vast array of meconium research seemingly confirms that meconium in amniotic fluid is harmful because it either indicates or contributes to neonatal compromise. However, this is an assumption which has not been clearly demonstrated by robust research. Nonetheless the bias in support of an association with unfavourable outcomes has promoted meconium’s poor reputation and led to a multitude of hugely significant interventions.
Using the findings from an extensive review of the literature, this presentation will discuss the theories of meconium passage. It will examine the research findings that are currently shaping our meconium guidelines, and then explore the evidence that supports the concept of in-utero meconium passage as a physiological process. Then it will consider the controversial diagnosis of Meconium Aspiration Syndrome in the light of the challenges to its existence as a disease in its own right