Maternal oxygen administration for concerning fetal heart rate tracing (FHT) patterns is common practice on Labor and Delivery units in the United States. Despite the broad use of oxygen, it is unclear if this practice is beneficial for the fetus. Category II FHT, as defined by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (Robinson), is a broad class of FHT patterns that may suggest cord compression and/or placental insufficiency for which oxygen is most commonly administered. Although some animal and human studies (Khazin, Althabe) have demonstrated that maternal hyperoxygenation can alleviate such fetal heart rate decelerations, this purported benefit has not been shown to translate into improved fetal outcomes, particularly in relation to acid-base status. In fact, some studies suggest harm with oxygen use due to lower umbilical artery pH and increased delivery room resuscitation (Nesterenko, Thorp) or increased free radical activity (Khaw). Given the indeterminate evidence for this ubiquitously employed resuscitation technique, there is an urgent need to further study the utility of maternal oxygen administration in labor for fetal benefit.