Noise as a risk factor in the delivery room: A clinical study

We aimed to investigate whether noise in delivery rooms is associated with impaired performance of obstetric teams managing major (≥1000 mL) postpartum hemorrhage.

We included video recordings of 96 obstetric teams managing real-life major postpartum hemorrhage. Exposure was noise defined as the occurrence of sound level pressures (SPL) above 90 dB. The outcome was high clinical performance assessed through expert ratings using the TeamOBS-PPH tool.

The 23 teams unexposed to noise had a significantly higher chance of high clinical performance than the 73 teams exposed to noise: 91.3% (95% CI; 72.0-98.9) versus 58.9% (95% CI; 46.8-70.3) (p < 0.001). The results remained significant when adjusting for the following possible confounders: team size, non-technical performance, bleeding velocity, hospital type, etiology of bleeding, event duration and time of day. Typical sources of noise above 90 dB SPL were mother or baby crying, dropping of instruments, and slamming of cupboard doors.

Noise in delivery rooms may be an independent source of impaired clinical performance.