Academic OB/GYN

Throughout my career heard so many reasons why the fern slide didn’t fern in the apparently ruptured patient.

“She’s only 19 weeks, they don’t fern this early.”

“There’s blood in the sample, that makes it not fern.”

“She has chorio, that makes it not fern.”

Over the years, this has driven me a bit crazy, because the real reason that the slide is not ferned is not any of these reasons.  The reason there is no fern on the slide is because the fluid on the slide is not amniotic fluid.

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