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Medical retrieval of pregnant women in labour: A scoping review
Jessica McInnes1, Bridget Honan2, Richard Johnson3
1Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Background:
Remote Australian women in labour often rely on retrieval services to allow birthing in specialist obstetric centres. However, there is currently debate over when not to transfer a woman in labour, for risk of an in-transit birth, associated with worse neonatal outcomes.
Methods:
A scoping review methodology was undertaken, to define the scope of published literature on the topic and identify gaps in the current knowledge.
Results:
A total of seven full texts were deemed suitable for synthesis, which were all retrospective observational studies. Four themes from the studies' findings were identified: population features, predicting time-to-birth, use of tocolysis and birth during medical evacuation.
Conclusion:
The evidence identified in this review was of low methodological quality and heterogenous. The key findings were that births in-flight are rare, despite geographical distances and long transport times, with a knowledge gap on predictors of time-to-birth.
