Monitoring Emergency Obstetric Care

This handbook describes indicators that can be used to assess, monitor and evaluate the availability, use and quality of Emergency Obstetric Care. These emergency obstetric care indicators can be used to measure progress in a programmatic continuum: from the availability of and access to emergency obstetric care to the use and quality of those services.

The emphasis of the manual is on rapid assessment and decision making. The clinical action steps are based on clinical assessment with limited reliance on laboratory or other tests and most are possible in a variety of clinical settings.

Every day, approximately 1000 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth, most of which result from common treatable complications, such as haemorrhage, infections, pre-eclampsia and obstructed labour, which have not been recognized in time or treated properly. Every unborn child also faces risk of stillbirth, birth trauma, oxygen deprivation and neonatal death or long-term brain damage during birthing. Obstetric and Intrapartum Emergencies: A Practical Guide to Management is written by a wide variety of obstetric experts in developing and developed countries and provides an easy-to-use guide to recognize and treat perinatal emergencies before it is too late. The text includes learning tools such as 'Key Pearls' and 'Key Pitfalls', a section on managing emergencies in a low-resource setting and contains detailed illustrations throughout. This book is a practical and invaluable guide for obstetricians, neonatologists, midwives, medical students and the wider perinatal team.

This book will serve as a pocket guide, offering rapid advice on appropriate emergency care for a wide range of obstetric situations, including acute fetal hypoxia, uterine rupture, shoulder dystocia, eclampsia, amniotic fluid embolism, pulmonary thromboembolism, retention of the aftercoming head, major postpartum hemorrhage, and uterine inversion. For each emergency, the definition, diagnosis, and recommended management strategy are reviewed from a pan-European perspective. Regular review and training in obstetric emergencies is the only effective way to develop and maintain clinical competence in these rare and life-threatening situations, thus improving their management and the resulting outcomes. Healthcare professionals will find this book offers a practical and reliable source of information for dealing with dangerous and acute complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

Developed to improve patient safety during labor and delivery, the OB F.A.S.T. (Obstetrical Feasible Approach to Safety Training) simulation program is a proven, award-winning resource is designed for all members of the interdisciplinary obstetrics team to use together. Written by Dr. Giancarlo Mari, who developed the program and currently trains providers around the U.S. and the world, this volume helps teams strengthen their common knowledge of obstetric emergencies. This knowledge is then applied to rehearse emergencies together and prepare team members to provide a safe labor and delivery experience for every mother and child. Features easy-to-follow images and diagrams to reinforce team knowledge of common obstetric emergencies, from cardiac arrest and anesthesia considerations to intrapartum fetal monitoring and amniotic fluid embolism. Offers suggestions for how to run a simulation drill, as well as key points for debriefing and documentation. Includes essential background information to facilitate quick reference and skills checklists to evaluate team performance. Designed for every member of the obstetric team – from those who are new to the field to practitioners with years of experience.

Addresses the challenges of managing critically ill obstetric patients, with chapters authored by intensivists/anesthesiologists and obstetricians/maternal-fetal medicine specialists.

This Manual accompanies a course on the delivery of safe emergency obstetric care.

The delivery of high quality and equitable care for both mothers and newborns is complex and requires efforts across many sectors. The United States spends more on childbirth than any other country in the world, yet outcomes are worse than other high-resource countries, and even worse for Black and Native American women. There are a variety of factors that influence childbirth, including social determinants such as income, educational levels, access to care, financing, transportation, structural racism and geographic variability in birth settings. It is important to reevaluate the United States' approach to maternal and newborn care through the lens of these factors across multiple disciplines. Birth Settings in America: Outcomes, Quality, Access, and Choice reviews and evaluates maternal and newborn care in the United States, the epidemiology of social and clinical risks in pregnancy and childbirth, birth settings research, and access to and choice of birth settings.