title: Why group & save? Blood transfusion at low-risk elective caesarean section.
abstract: Women undergoing elective caesarean section (CS) routinely have a group and save ordered as part of their preoperative assessment, whereas women with expected vaginal birth do not. Our aim was therefore to determine the rate of blood transfusion at elective CS compared with vaginal birth in a large Australian maternity hospital. A retrospective cohort study was performed using routinely collected de-identified data of 35 477 women, over 4 years, who delivered at the Mater Mothers' Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. After excluding women with established risk factors for transfusion, the likelihood of blood transfusion following elective CS was significantly lower compared to vaginal birth (aOR 0.47 (0.29, 0.77)).
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mercy Hospital for Women, The University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Owen
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Stock
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beckmann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D001803:Blood Transfusion / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002585:Cesarean Section; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: birth; blood grouping and cross-matching; blood transfusion; caesarean section; health resources