Placental Interchange. Ii. Comparison of the Total Base Concentration of the Fetal and Maternal Blood at Parturition.

Although the literature on the permeability of the placenta to many substances either of a metabolic or foreign origin is extensive, there is a paucity of data on comparisons of maternal and infant total base. In 1920 Stander and Tyler (1) reported identical values for the ash of maternal and fetal plasma, while Levy-Solal, Dalsace, and Gutman (2) in 1934 reported the maternal and fetal plasma ash to be 7.97 and 9.25 grams per liter respectively. Eastman, Geiling, and De Lawder (3) found the total serum base of fetal and maternal serum to be low and stated that the normal adult total base was about 154.0 m.eq., while that of fetal blood was about 148 m.eq. In the present study, the total base was determined simultaneously on samples of maternal venous, umbilical arterial, and umbilical venous plasma from blood obtained at the time of delivery.