Rate of decline of fetal base excess after neuraxial anesthesia for scheduled cesarean delivery.

The rate of decrease in base excess when scheduled cesarean deliveries are converted to emergency cesarean deliveries owing to fetal bradycardia related to spinal anesthesia (1 mmol/2.6 min) matches the estimated rate of loss of base excess (1 mmol/2-3 minutes) reported in cases of severe bradycardia or sentinel events during labor.