An 11 Year Review of Maternity Admissions to the Intensive Care Unit, Ulster Hospital, Northern Ireland

Dr Hannah Houston (CT3 Anaesthetics), Dr Leanne Laverty (Consultant Anaesthetist), Dr Claire Jamison (Consultant ICM & Anaesthetics)

Introduction

The admission of a pregnant or recently pregnant woman to critical care is rare but is significant, due to unique peripartum challenges and evidence of long-term psychological consequences. An increase in women needing critical care is expected due to an older, more co-morbid, higher BMI population. Maternal critical care is particularly topical due to the recent release of guidance on Enhanced Maternal Care units[1,2]. Data relating to maternal ICU admissions in England, Scotland and Wales is available in the National Maternal and Perinatal Audit (NMPA) 2015 report[3]. However, data from Northern Ireland is not readily available. Our aim was to audit ICU admissions in the Ulster Hospital, a DGH within NI, to benchmark our results against national standards.

Methods

Patients were found through an ICNARC search of ‘currently pregnant’ or ‘recently pregnant’ (up to 6 weeks postpartum) between the dates of 1st January 2013 and 31st December 2023. Data was subsequently collected from both the ICU medical records system “ICIP” and NI’s Electronic Care Record. Note that this audit does not include patients receiving Enhanced Maternal Care (EMC) within labour ward.

Findings

Demographics

Admissions per year 

Admission type

 

Admission diagnosis

 

Estimated blood loss

 

Respiratory failure aetiology

Length of ICU admission 

Follow up