How do doctors build knowledge around obstetric emergencies? A scoping review

Obstetric emergencies (OEs) are high-stakes events but, despite their importance, how doctors build knowledge relating to them remains poorly understood.

Explore the international literature on knowledge-building around OEs with the goal of informing future UK training and workforce strategies.

Subject headings, free-text terms and synonyms relating to OEs were included. Searches were conducted in April 2024 and updated in June 2026 across MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO (all via Ovid), ERIC (via EBSCOhost) and Scopus.

English language studies, published after 2016, addressing OE knowledge-building in obstetrics and gynaecology (O&G) doctors across all grades, were included.

Screening was undertaken in two phases (title and abstract and full text) with reasons for exclusion documented. A 10% sample was double-screened and discrepancies resolved through discussion. A structured data extraction tool was refined before full extraction. Thematic synthesis was conducted inductively.

Findings from 369 papers were synthesised. Knowledge-building sources clustered into training, context and experience, with formal training remaining the primary focus of the literature. Barriers to learning were both structural and cultural. Inequalities permeated all domains, driving inequities in outcomes.

O&G doctors can draw on multiple sources to build OE knowledge, yet workplace-based learning (WPBL) remains a significant gap. Separating learning from clinical practice wastes knowledge-building opportunities inherent in everyday care. WPBL approaches within OE must be developed and rigorously evaluated to realise their full potential.