A 26 years old female at 39 weeks gestation presents with gush of fluid and regular contractions. On examination, she is grossly ruptured, contraction every two minutes and a cervical dilatation of 4 cms. The fetal heart rate is 140/min and reactive. She was admitted for labor and delivery. Over the next four hours, the cervical dilatation progressed to 9 cms. In the past hour, the fetal heart rate increased from the baseline of 140/min to 160/min. There is moderate to severe variable decelerations are seen with each contraction. The fetal heart rate does not responds to scalp stimulation. It was decided to proceed for caesarean section. The most important reason for the decision is