If accurate information is then needed on fetal status, it can easily be obtained through the use of fetal scalp electrodes or by obtaining fetal scalp blood for pH determination. Amniotomy has also been performed before insertion of uterine pressure catheters (Smith et al, 1993, p. 1476). All of this information can be extremely useful in making continuing medical decisions with regard to labor management (Milhan, 1992, p. 18).
The use of amniotomy to induce labor has been practiced for centuries (Stewart et al., 1982, p. 41). Only more recently, however, has the procedure been employed in established labor. Without amniotomy, the placental membranes may remain intact until the second stage of labor and longer. Historical references describe the membranes enduring throughout the birthing process and refer to such infants as being born "in the caul" (Stewart et al., 1982, p. 41).
Since at least the beginning of the second half of this century and perhaps even earlier than that amniotomy has been widely accepted as a
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