Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in pregnancy

Although pregnancy and delivery in the United States are usually safe for mother and her newborn child, serious maternal complications, including cardiac arrest, can occur in the prenatal, intrapartum and postpartum periods. The clinical obstetrician can expect to encounter this complication in his or her career. The obstetrician must be aware of the special circumstances of resuscitation of the gravid woman to assist emergency medicine and critical care physicians in reviving the patient. Understanding the decision process leading to the performance of a perimortem cesarean and the actual performance of the cesarean delivery clearly are the responsibility of the obstetrician.