Chapter 9: Guidelines for the Provision of Anaesthesia Services for an Obstetric Population 2025
Women requiring critical care in a non-obstetric facility should be reviewed daily by a maternity team that includes an obstetric anaesthetist.11
Women requiring critical care in a non-obstetric facility should be reviewed daily by a maternity team that includes an obstetric anaesthetist.11
The obstetric anaesthetist should be informed and should be consulted when there is a multidisciplinary transfer of care of a pregnant or postpartum woman. This is particularly important when there is a physical transfer of care (e.g. transfer to or from a critical care ward or another hospital), which should necessitate direct communication between the obstetric anaesthetist and the other...
All units should have facilities, equipment and appropriately trained staff to provide care for acutely ill obstetric patients. If they are unavailable, patients should be transferred to the general critical care area in the same hospital with staff trained to provide care to obstetric patients.
All patients should be able to access level 3 critical care if required. Units without such provision on site should have an arrangement with a nominated level 3 critical care unit and an agreed policy for the stabilisation and safe transfer of patients to this unit when required.40,59 Portable monitoring with the facility for invasive monitoring...
The duty anaesthetist should be informed as soon as a woman with a BMI above a locally agreed threshold is admitted.
Equipment to facilitate the care of women with morbidly obesity (including specialised electrically operated beds, operating tables with suitable width extensions and positioning aids, such as commercially produced ramping pillows, extra-long spinal and epidural needles, weighing scales, sliding sheets and hover mattresses or hoists) should be readily available. Staff should receive training on how to use the specialised equipment.105...
There should be a multidisciplinary protocol governing care of young women and girls under the age of 18 years that includes consent, the environment in which patients are cared for, and the staff responsible for caring for these young women.