Objective To estimate the incidence and predictors of severe obstetric morbidity. Design Development of definitions of severe obstetric morbidity by literature review. Case-control study from a defined delivery population with four randomly selected pregnant women as controls for every case. Setting All 19 maternity units within the South East Thames region and six neighbouring hospitals caring for pregnant women from the region between 1 March 1997 and 28 February 1998. Participants 48 865 women who delivered during the time frame. Results There were 588 cases of severe obstetric morbidity giving an incidence of 12.0/1000 deliveries (95% confidence interval 11.2 to 13.2). During the study there were five maternal deaths attributed to conditions studied. Disease specific morbidities per 1000 deliveries were 6.7 (6.0 to 7.5) for severe haemorrhage, 3.9 (3.3 to 4.5) for severe pre-eclampsia, 0.2 (0.1 to 0.4) for eclampsia, 0.5 (0.3 to 0.8) for HELLP (Haemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, and Low Platelets) syndrome, 0.4 (0.2 to 0.6) for severe sepsis, and 0.2 (0.1 to 0.4) for uterine rupture. Age over 34 years, non-white ethnic group, past or current hypertension, previous postpartum haemorrhage, delivery by emergency caesarean section, antenatal admission to hospital, multiple pregnancy, social exclusion, and taking iron or anti-depressants at antenatal booking were all independently associated with morbidity after adjustment. Conclusion Severe obstetric morbidity and its relation to mortality may be more sensitive measures of pregnancy outcome than mortality alone. Most events are related to obstetric haemorrhage and severe pre-eclampsia. Caesarean section quadruples the risk of morbidity. Development and evaluation of ways of predicting and reducing risk are required with particular emphasis paid on the management of haemorrhage and pre-eclampsia.

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Objective To estimate the incidence and predictors of severe obstetric morbidity. Design Development of definitions of severe obstetric morbidity by literature review. Case-control study from a defined delivery population with four randomly selected pregnant women as controls for every case. Setting All 19 maternity units within the South East Thames region and six neighbouring hospitals caring for pregnant women from the region between 1 March 1997 and 28 February 1998. Participants 48 865 women who delivered during the time frame. Results There were 588 cases of severe obstetric morbidity giving an incidence of 12.0/1000 deliveries (95% confidence interval 11.2 to 13.2). During the study there were five maternal deaths attributed to conditions studied. Disease specific morbidities per 1000 deliveries were 6.7 (6.0 to 7.5) for severe haemorrhage, 3.9 (3.3 to 4.5) for severe pre-eclampsia, 0.2 (0.1 to 0.4) for eclampsia, 0.5 (0.3 to 0.8) for HELLP (Haemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes, and Low Platelets) syndrome, 0.4 (0.2 to 0.6) for severe sepsis, and 0.2 (0.1 to 0.4) for uterine rupture. Age over 34 years, non-white ethnic group, past or current hypertension, previous postpartum haemorrhage, delivery by emergency caesarean section, antenatal admission to hospital, multiple pregnancy, social exclusion, and taking iron or anti-depressants at antenatal booking were all independently associated with morbidity after adjustment. Conclusion Severe obstetric morbidity and its relation to mortality may be more sensitive measures of pregnancy outcome than mortality alone. Most events are related to obstetric haemorrhage and severe pre-eclampsia. Caesarean section quadruples the risk of morbidity. Development and evaluation of ways of predicting and reducing risk are required with particular emphasis paid on the management of haemorrhage and pre-eclampsia.

Objectives To compare the predictive value of the shock index (SI) with conventional vital signs in postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), and to establish 'alert' thresholds for use in low-resource settings.Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting UK tertiary centre.Population Women with PPH ≥1500 ml (n = 233).Methods Systolic blood pressure (BP), diastolic BP, mean arterial pressure, pulse pressure, heart rate (HR) and SI (HR/systolic BP) were measured within the first hour following PPH. Values measured at the time of highest SI were selected for analysis. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for each parameter, used to predict admission to an intensive care unit and other adverse outcomes, was calculated. Sensitivity, specificity and negative/positive predictive values determined thresholds of the best predictor.Main outcome measures Intensive care unit (ICU) admission, blood transfusion ≥4 iu, haemoglobin level <7 g/dl, and invasive surgical procedures.Results Shock index has the highest AUROC to predict ICU admissions (0.75 for SI [95% CI 0.63-0.87] compared with 0.64 [95% CI 0.44-0.83] for systolic BP). SI compared favourably for other outcomes: SI ≥0.9 had 100% sensitivity (95% CI 73.5-100) and 43.4% specificity (95% CI 36.8-50.3), and SI ≥1.7 had 25.0% sensitivity (95% CI 5.5-57.2) and 97.7% specificity 3), for predicting ICU admission.Conclusions Shock index compared favourably with conventional vital signs in predicting ICU admission and other outcomes in PPH, even after adjusting for confounding; SI <0.9 provides reassurance, whereas SI ≥1.7 indicates a need for urgent attention. In low-resource settings this simple parameter could improve outcomes. It was not possible to adjust for resuscitative measures administered following vital sign measurement that may have influenced the outcome.

Objective-To assess the screcning propertics of a mid-trimester uteroplacental Doppler scan in a normal unselectcd population. Design-A cross-sectional study measuring an averaged resistance index (AVRI) from four sites (left and right uterine and arcuate arteries) with continuous wave Doppler ultrasound. Setting-Rout ine booking ultrasound, King's College Hospital, London. Subjects-977 women at 16-24 weeks gestation. Mairi outcome measures-Intrauterine death, birthweight, pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), antepartum haemorrhage. Results-There was a 96.5% follow-up. Pregnancies with high AVRI values had a higher prcvalence of proteinuric hypertension, placental abruption, small-forgestational-age babies, and fetal loss. When AVRI was >95th centile, the ovcrall risk of pregnancy complications was 67%, and the risk of a severe complication was 25%. However, the sensitivity of the test for these complications was only 13% and 21% respectively. The risk for an individual woman with a high AVRI of developing a complication was increased by up to 9.8 times. Conclusion-Although Doppler screening does detect a unifying defect leading to perinatal death, pre-eclampsia, growth retardation and placental abruption, the predictive values do not yet justify its introduction as a routine test.

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