Early Triage and Emergency Obstetric Care in High-Risk Pregnancies and Impact on Their Outcome; A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To assess the role of early triage and emergency obstetric care for high-risk pregnancies and their outcome. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Bahawalpur Pakistan, from Jan 2021 to Jun 2022. Methodology: Women with high-risk pregnancies, aged 18-40 years, gestational age >28 weeks, were included. Emergency obstetric care was provided to participants of the study. Maternal outcome was assessed regarding their hospital stay duration, morbidity, mortality and mode of delivery. The fetal outcome was in terms of intra-uterine death (IUD), Early neonatal death (ENND), and live births. Results: The mean age of patients was 28.1±3.49 years. Most of the patients belonged to high-order cesarean section and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. 94.3% were delivered by cesarean section due to obstetric reasons, and hospital stay was an average of> 72 hours in 57.7 %. Maternal mortality and morbidity were not observed. 99.9% of babies were live births, 0.7% ended into ENND, and one received an IUD. Conclusion: Early triage followed by the provision of emergency obstetric emergency care is recommended in high-risk pregnancies for optimum feto-maternal outcome.

Keywords

• Emergency obstetric care (EmOC)
• High-risk pregnancy
• Intra uterine death
• Level III maternal care