The reported risk of nonreassuring fetal heart trace following neuraxial analgesia is 3-23%.
This variability may be due to fluid and oxytocin management prior to and during the
initiation of neuraxial analgesia. The study hypothesis is that decreasing the oxytocin
infusion rate by 50 % prior to initiation of combined spinal epidural analgesia will cause a
reduction in the incidence of adverse fetal heart rate changes.