Obstetric hospital preparedness for a pandemic: an obstetric critical care perspective in response to COVID-19

Abstract

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has had a rapid and deadly onset, spreading quickly throughout the world. Pregnant patients have had high mortality rates, perinatal losses, and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions from acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in the past. Potentially, a surge of patients may require hospitalization and ICU care beyond the capacity of the health care system. This article is to provide institutional guidance on how to prepare an obstetric hospital service for a pandemic, mass casualty, or natural disaster by identifying a care model and resources for a large surge of critically ill pregnant patients over a short time. We recommend a series of protocols, education, and simulation training, with a structured and tiered approach to match the needs for the patients, for hospitals specialized in obstetrics.

Pregnant women's perspectives on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccine

“…COVID-19 pandemic has determined an incredible burden on national healthcare systems worldwide. In Obstetrics and Gynecology practice, all non-urgent clinical and surgical activities have been postponed during the most critical phases, also raising the debate on which conditions should be considered as urgent and how to reorganize obstetrical, gynecological and reproductive medicine units [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

Working conditions for hospital-based maternity and neonatal health care workers during extraordinary situations – A pre-/post COVID-19 pandemic analysis and lessons learned

“…These changes included physically separating COVID-19 infected women, and the HCWs providing care for them, from other women, as well as introducing triaging and screening procedures to identify infected cases, restricting the possibility for partners or next of kin to stay at the wards, implementing routines for PPE use, withholding or delaying care, and changing to digital meetings with the women where possible. Comparable organizational-level changes have been reported for similar health organizations internationally [8] , [10] , [13] , [21] , [22] . Furthermore, these changes were implemented at a time point when staff meetings were kept to a minimum and/or performed digitally, which further complicated the implementation process.…”

Are maternal wards in government hospitals disaster prepared?: Systematic review

“…Full capacity and bed management can be expected to over ow during a time of disaster and the obstetric ward should be prepared for such circumstances. Ganchi [15], Beigi et al [13], Harvey et al [11], Robichaux et al [4], and Orlando et al [14] all mention that surge capacity needs to be included in the disaster management protocol and includes the different departments of neonatal, antenatal, postnatal and intrapartum. Harvey and Zalud [11] state that predetermined algorithms for patient distribution should be included in a disaster plan and should consider staff availability and patient procedural concerns, and the availability of equipment.…”