O77.9 Labor and delivery complicated by fetal stress, unspecified

Billable ICD-10-CM code, FY2026.

Excludes1 (never code together)

• abnormality of fetal acid-base balance (O68)
• abnormality in fetal heart rate or rhythm (O76)
• fetal metabolic acidemia (O68)

MS-DRG index

Defines the logic of DRG(s) 998 in MDC 14.

Approximate ICD-9-CM (GEMs)

• 656.81 Other specified fetal and placental problems, affecting management of mother, delivered, with or without mention of antepartum condition (approximate)

Medicare Code Edits (MCE v43.1 (April 2026))

• Maternity diagnoses (age 9 through 64): Age conflict edit. These diagnoses are clinically expected only in patients age 9 through 64.

Code annotations containing back-references to O77.9

Back-references to O77.9

• Type 1 Excludes: O68 Labor and delivery complicated by abnormality of fetal acid-base balance ("fetal stress NOS (O77.9)")
• Type 1 Excludes: O76 Abnormality in fetal heart rate and rhythm complicating labor and delivery ("fetal stress NOS (O77.9)")

Back-references to O77

• Type 2 Excludes: O36 Maternal care for other fetal problems ("labor and delivery complicated by fetal stress (O77.-)")

Diagnosis Index entries for O77.9

• Delivery (childbirth) (labor) › complicated › by › fetal › stress
• Stress › fetal › complicating pregnancy

Nearby codes

• O77 Other fetal stress complicating labor and delivery
• O77.0 Labor and delivery complicated by meconium in amniotic fluid
• O77.1 Fetal stress in labor or delivery due to drug administration
• O77.8 Labor and delivery complicated by other evidence of fetal stress
• O77.9 Labor and delivery complicated by fetal stress, unspecified (this code)