Maternal mortality and morbidity: epidemiology of intensive care admissions in pregnancy

Maternal mortality reviews are used globally to assess the quality of health-care services. With the decline in the number of maternal deaths, it has become difficult to derive meaningful conclusions that could have an impact on quality of care using maternal mortality data. The emphasis has recently shifted to severe acute maternal morbidity (SAMM), as an adjunct to maternal mortality reviews. Due to its heterogeneity, there are difficulties in recognising SAMM. The problem of identifying SAMM accurately is the main issue in investigating them. However, admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) provides an unambiguous, management-based inclusion criterion for a SAMM. ICU data are available across health-care settings prospectively and retrospectively, making them a tool that could be studied readily. However, admission to the ICU depends on many factors, such as accessibility and the availability of high-dependency units, which will reduce the need for ICU admission. Thresholds for admission vary widely and are generally higher in facilities that handle a heavier workload. In addition, not all women with SAMM receive intensive care. However, women at the severe end of the spectrum of severe morbidity will almost invariably receive intensive care. Notwithstanding these limitations, the epidemiology of intensive care admissions in pregnancy will provide valuable data about women with severe morbidity. The overall rate of obstetric ICU admission varies from 0.04% to 4.54%.