Obstetric audit and its implications for obstetric anaesthesia

After briefly expounding the principles of an audit, this article focusses on the role of obstetric audit and how it can influence, and even shape, obstetric anaesthetic practice. The impact may be on service delivery, anaesthetic practice or the generation of new information. The relevance of maternal mortality reporting and of obstetric haemorrhage audit to anaesthetic practice is used to illustrate these concepts. Further examples include how different types of audit of pregnancy outcome, obstetric practice or areas of cross-interest to both obstetricians and anaesthetists are used by anaesthetists to evaluate health-care delivery, their own practices and to generate new audit and research agendas. Audits drive change and, hopefully, improvements that continue to make pregnancy a safer and more satisfying event for the mother and child.