A double-blind study was performed on ninety-six parturients of the Lima Maternity Hospital, Peru, with some evidence of foetal distress who were given indistinguishably piracetam or a placebo at random in order to investigate the effects of the drug on the foetus. The conditions of the new-born babies who had received piracetam were superior to those of the babies treated with the placebo, as evaluated with the Apgar at 1, 5 and 10 minutes after birth and on the basis of the neurological and clinical examination as from 24 hours until they were released. In addition, the reduction of the duration of the labour in the patients treated with piracetam as compared with the control group was obvious.