Maternal Death From Aspiration Asphyxia

Eating and drinking in labor A literature review

“…In 1956, Parker (14) undertook a study to determine why there had been no maternal deaths while using general anesthesia at home. In Birmingham, England, 100,000 births took place in the home between 1943 and 1952.…”

“…There is considerable agreement among experts in anesthesiology that substandard management of anesthesia care is a primary cause of pulmonary aspiration (7, 11, 14, 22–33). If intubation cannot be completed, the obstetrician and anesthetist should have a “failed intubation drill” in place.…”

“…Many authors concede that regional anesthesia has little effect on gastric emptying (14, 30, 32, 38–40). Crawford (39), an English physician who has researched the topic of potential aspiration in labor, stated that “a mother undergoing a comfortable labor, with the aid of an epidural analgesia, does welcome refreshment, and all other things being equal, we offer her a lemon sorbet, or a cup of tea and a slice of toast.…”