Obstetric medical emergency teams are a step forward in maternal safety!

The medical emergency team (MET) system was introduced successfully worldwide. With the exception of a few research publications, most of the described teams are based on patients' medical rather than obstetric management. The objective of this study was to review literature on the outcome of obstetric MET implementation.

Systematic review has been done through searching MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, relevant articles references, and contact with experts. The author and one other researcher independently selected literature on the establishment or implementation of obstetric MET. There were no restrictions on language, sample size, type of publication, or duration of follow up.

THREE PUBLICATIONS WERE IDENTIFIED: Catanzarite et al., Gosman et al., and Skupski et al. They were heterogeneous in terms of the method of implementation and the outcomes discussed. None of them discussed obstetric MET implementation in developing countries.

In the literature, there is a lack of reporting and probably of implementation of Obstetrics METs. Therefore, there is a need for more standardized experiences and reports on the implementation of various types of Obstetrics METs. We propose here a design for Obstetrics METs to be implemented in developing countries, aiming to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity resulting from obstetric hemorrhage.