Ethanol increases uterine blood flow and fetal arterial blood oxygen tension in the near-term pregnant ewe

Fetal hypoxia is a hypothesized mechanism of ethanol teratogenesis. The objective of this study was to test this hypothesis by determining the effects of maternal ethanol infusion on uterine blood flow (UBF) and fetal oxygen status. UBF was measured with an electromagnetic flow probe placed around the left maternal uterine artery of the surgically recovered instrumented near-term pregnant sheep at 124 +/- 3 days of gestation (term = 147 days). Experimental treatment involved maternal infusion of 2 g (n = 3) or 4 g (n = 5) ethanol/kg maternal body weight, or 0.9% saline (n = 4) over a 5-h period. Arterial blood samples were collected at regular intervals to monitor maternal ethanol concentration and fetal P-O2. Maternal ethanol infusion produced a dose-dependent increase (p = 0.0009) in UBF. Ethanol infusion also increased (p = 0.03) fetal arterial P-O2. Overall, these findings indicate that fetal hypoxia is not a mechanism of ethanol teratogenesis.