2025 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code O76
Abnormality in fetal heart rate and rhythm complicating labor and delivery
- ICD-10-CM Code:
- O76
- ICD-10 Code for:
- Abnlt in fetal heart rate and rhythm comp labor and delivery
- Is Billable?
- Yes - Valid for Submission
- Chronic Condition Indicator: [1]
- Not chronic
- Code Navigator:
O76 is a billable diagnosis code used to specify a medical diagnosis of abnormality in fetal heart rate and rhythm complicating labor and delivery. The code is valid during the current fiscal year for the submission of HIPAA-covered transactions from October 01, 2024 through September 30, 2025.
The code O76 is applicable to female patients aged 12 through 55 years inclusive. It is clinically and virtually impossible to use this code on a non-female patient outside the stated age range.
Approximate Synonyms
The following list of clinical terms are approximate synonyms, alternative descriptions, or common phrases that might be used by patients, healthcare providers, or medical coders to describe the same condition. These synonyms and related diagnosis terms are often used when searching for an ICD-10 code, especially when the exact medical terminology is unclear. Whether you're looking for lay terms, similar diagnosis names, or common language alternatives, this list can help guide you to the correct ICD-10 classification.
- Labor and delivery complicated by fetal heart rate anomaly
- Labor and delivery complicated by fetal heart rate anomaly with meconium in amniotic fluid
Clinical Classification
Clinical Classifications group individual ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes into broader, clinically meaningful categories. These categories help simplify complex data by organizing related conditions under common clinical themes.
They are especially useful for data analysis, reporting, and clinical decision-making. Even when diagnosis codes differ, similar conditions can be grouped together based on their clinical relevance. Each category is assigned a unique CCSR code that represents a specific clinical concept, often tied to a body system or medical specialty.
Complications specified during childbirth
CCSR Code: PRG023
Inpatient Default: Y - Yes, default inpatient assignment for principal diagnosis or first-listed diagnosis.
Outpatient Default: Y - Yes, default outpatient assignment for principal diagnosis or first-listed diagnosis.
Tabular List of Diseases and Injuries
The following annotation back-references are applicable to this diagnosis code. The Tabular List of Diseases and Injuries is a list of ICD-10-CM codes, organized "head to toe" into chapters and sections with coding notes and guidance for inclusions, exclusions, descriptions and more.
Inclusion Terms
Inclusion TermsThese terms are the conditions for which that code is to be used. The terms may be synonyms of the code title, or, in the case of "other specified" codes, the terms are a list of the various conditions assigned to that code. The inclusion terms are not necessarily exhaustive. Additional terms found only in the Alphabetic Index may also be assigned to a code.
- Depressed fetal heart rate tones complicating labor and delivery
- Fetal bradycardia complicating labor and delivery
- Fetal heart rate decelerations complicating labor and delivery
- Fetal heart rate irregularity complicating labor and delivery
- Fetal heart rate abnormal variability complicating labor and delivery
- Fetal tachycardia complicating labor and delivery
- Non-reassuring fetal heart rate or rhythm complicating labor and delivery
Type 1 Excludes
Type 1 ExcludesA type 1 excludes note is a pure excludes note. It means "NOT CODED HERE!" An Excludes1 note indicates that the code excluded should never be used at the same time as the code above the Excludes1 note. An Excludes1 is used when two conditions cannot occur together, such as a congenital form versus an acquired form of the same condition.
- fetal stress NOS O77.9
- labor and delivery complicated by electrocardiographic evidence of fetal stress O77.8
- labor and delivery complicated by ultrasonic evidence of fetal stress O77.8
Type 2 Excludes
Type 2 ExcludesA type 2 excludes note represents "Not included here". An excludes2 note indicates that the condition excluded is not part of the condition represented by the code, but a patient may have both conditions at the same time. When an Excludes2 note appears under a code, it is acceptable to use both the code and the excluded code together, when appropriate.
Index to Diseases and Injuries References
The following annotation back-references for this diagnosis code are found in the injuries and diseases index. The Index to Diseases and Injuries is an alphabetical listing of medical terms, with each term mapped to one or more ICD-10-CM code(s).
- - Delivery (childbirth) (labor)
- - complicated - O75.9
- - by
- - depressed fetal heart tones - O76
- - fetal
- - by
- - complicated - O75.9
Code Edits
The Medicare Code Editor (MCE) detects errors and inconsistencies in ICD-10-CM diagnosis coding that can affect Medicare claim validity. These Medicare code edits help medical coders and billing professionals determine when a diagnosis code is not appropriate as a principal diagnosis, does not meet coverage criteria. Use this list to verify whether a code is valid for Medicare billing and to avoid claim rejections or denials due to diagnosis coding issues.
Maternity diagnoses
The Medicare Code Editor detects inconsistencies in maternity cases by checking a patient's age and any diagnosis on the patient's record. The maternity code edits apply to patients age ange is 9–64 years inclusive (e.g., diabetes in pregnancy, antepartum pulmonary complication).
Convert O76 to ICD-9-CM
Below are the ICD-9 codes that most closely match this ICD-10 code, based on the General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs). This ICD-10 to ICD-9 crosswalk tool is helpful for coders who need to reference legacy diagnosis codes for audits, historical claims, or approximate code comparisons.
Abn ftl hrt rate/rhy-del
ICD-9-CM: 659.71
Approximate Flag - The approximate mapping means this ICD-10 code does not have an exact ICD-9 equivalent. The matched code is the closest available option, but it may not fully capture the original diagnosis or clinical intent.
Patient Education
Childbirth Problems
Childbirth is the process of giving birth to a baby. It includes labor and delivery. Usually everything goes well, but problems can happen. They may cause a risk to the mother, baby, or both. Some of the more common childbirth problems include:
- Preterm (premature) labor, when your labor starts before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy
- Premature rupture of membranes (PROM), when your water breaks too early. If labor does not start soon afterwards, this can raise the risk of infection.
- Problems with the placenta, such as the placenta covering the cervix, separating from the uterus before birth, or being attached too firmly to the uterus
- Labor that does not progress, meaning that labor is stalled. This can happen when
- Your contractions weaken
- Your cervix does not dilate (open) enough or is taking too long to dilate
- The baby is not in the right position
- The baby is too big or your pelvis is too small for the baby to move through the birth canal
- Abnormal heart rate of the baby. Often, an abnormal heart rate is not a problem. But if the heart rate gets very fast or very slow, it can be a sign that your baby is not getting enough oxygen or that there are other problems.
- Problems with the umbilical cord, such as the cord getting caught on the baby's arm, leg, or neck. It's also a problem if cord comes out before the baby does.
- Problems with the position of the baby, such as breech, in which the baby is going to come out feet first
- Shoulder dystocia, when the baby's head comes out, but the shoulder gets stuck
- Perinatal asphyxia, which happens when the baby does not get enough oxygen in the uterus, during labor or delivery, or just after birth
- Perineal tears, tearing of your vagina and the surrounding tissues
- Excessive bleeding, which can happen when the delivery causes tears to the uterus or if you are not able to deliver the placenta after you give birth to the baby
- Post-term pregnancy, when your pregnancy lasts more than 42 weeks
If you have problems in childbirth, your health care provider may need to give you medicines to induce or speed up labor, use tools to help guide the baby out of the birth canal, or deliver the baby by Cesarean section.
NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
[Learn More in MedlinePlus]
Code History
- FY 2024 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2023 through 9/30/2024
- FY 2023 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2022 through 9/30/2023
- FY 2022 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2021 through 9/30/2022
- FY 2021 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2020 through 9/30/2021
- FY 2020 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2019 through 9/30/2020
- FY 2019 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2018 through 9/30/2019
- FY 2018 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2017 through 9/30/2018
- FY 2017 - No Change, effective from 10/1/2016 through 9/30/2017
- FY 2016 - New Code, effective from 10/1/2015 through 9/30/2016. This was the first year ICD-10-CM was implemented into the HIPAA code set.
Footnotes
[1] Not chronic - A diagnosis code that does not fit the criteria for chronic condition (duration, ongoing medical treatment, and limitations) is considered not chronic. Some codes designated as not chronic are acute conditions. Other diagnosis codes that indicate a possible chronic condition, but for which the duration of the illness is not specified in the code description (i.e., we do not know the condition has lasted 12 months or longer) also are considered not chronic.
