Introduction: Amniotic fluid volume helps in assessing perinatal outcome. It’s appearance and composition can be a beacon in forecasting fetal well-being. This article substantiate the above claim, the discussed study and it’s discussions speaks for itself. Method: The study was carried out on two hundred women who attended the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Government Victoria Hospital, Visakhapatnam from March 2002 to March 2004. It is comparitive prospective study comparing 100 cases of oligohydramnios (Amniotic Fluid Index <5 cm) as study group with 100 cases of Normal (Amniotic Fluid Index >5 cm) as control group. Result: In the oligohydramnios group, The risk of meconium staining of liquor resulting intrapartum fetal distress and consequent increase in cesarean section rate is higher. Increased rate of still births and low apgar scores and consequent increase in the rate of admission into neonatal intensive care unit. Discussion: Incidence of meconium aspiration syndrome, meconium stained liquor is statistically higher in the study group. Incidence of emergency caesarean section, incidence of caesarean section for fetal distress is statistically higher in the study group. Incidence of still births, low apgar score, low birth weight babies, new borns requiring admission into neonatal intensive care unit is statistically higher in the study group. Conclusion: Antenatal amniotic fluid index estimation is a reliable indicator for predicting adverse perinatal outcome.

Keywords: Amniotic Fluid Index; Perinatal Outcome; Meconium Stained Liquor (MSL); Meconium Aspiration Syndrome (MAS); Caesarean Section; Oligohydrominos.