title: Maternal mortality in Australia: learning from maternal cardiac arrest.
abstract: Cardiac arrest in pregnancy is fortunately a rare event that few midwives will see during their career. The increase in maternal age, the Body Mass Index, cesarean sections, multiple pregnancies, and comorbidities over recent years have increased the probability of cardiac arrest. The early warning signs of impending maternal cardiac arrest are either absent or go unrecognized. Maternal mortality reviews highlight the deficiencies that maternity care providers have in managing cardiac arrest in pregnancy.The aim of this article is to address the knowledge deficiencies of health professionals by reviewing the physiological changes in pregnant women that complicate the management of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, using a case scenario. There are key differences in the management of pregnant women, when compared to standard adult resuscitation.The outcome is dependent on the speed of the response and the consideration of a number of crucial pregnancy-specific interventions. Staff members need to be adequately trained in order to deal with maternal cardiac arrest and have access to training packages and in-service education programs. As cardiac arrest in pregnancy is a rare event, emergency drill simulations are an important component of ongoing education.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health, Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia. Christine.catling-paull@uts.edu.au
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Catling-Paull
authors.forename: Nolan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: McDonnell
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moores
authors.forename: Caroline S E
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Homer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D016887:Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002585:Cesarean Section; D005260:Female; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000451:nursing* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007858:Learning; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D008880:Midwifery; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications