• Jan L Keizer, Joost J Zwart, Robertjan H Meerman, Bert I J Harinck, Hans D M Feuth, and Jos van Roosmalen.
• Department of Obstetrics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.
• Eur. J. Obstet. Gynecol. Reprod. Biol. 2006 Sep 1;128(1-2):152-6.

ObjectiveTo review all pregnant women who required admission to an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) during pregnancy, childbirth or puerperium.Study DesignRetrospective follow-up study in a tertiary care centre in The Netherlands. The files of all obstetric ICU admissions over the period 1990-2001 were reviewed.ResultsOver these 12 years, 142 women required ICU admission (0.76% of all deliveries, 0.70% of all adult ICU admissions). The most common reasons for ICU admission were (pre)eclampsia (62.0%) and obstetric haemorrhage (18.3%). Twenty-seven out of 142 women (19.0%) were of non-caucasian origin. The most common therapeutic interventions were transfusion of erythrocytes (66.2%), caesarean section (50.7%) and artificial ventilation (44.4%). We observed seven maternal deaths (4.9%).ConclusionWe need better information about high-risk obstetric patients in order to prevent severe maternal morbidity and to improve maternal care. The high number of non-caucasian women requiring ICU admission indicates the need for a study into the role of ethnicity. We have initiated a nationwide confidential enquiry into the causes of severe maternal morbidity.

20 keywords...

hide…