So this is the first of a pregnancy related double-header, with the focus being firmly set on the mother this month and next month we’ll focus in on NLS.

This month though we’re going to be discussing maternal emergencies. Now many conditions that could fall into this category but, as much as we love a good yarn, we really can’t be here all day, so we’ve decided to focus on are the conditions that we are more likely to come across in either prehospital or EM practice. Those conditions in which we can make a really big difference to either the mum or the baby.

We’re talking antepartum haemorrhage, postpartum haemorrhage, cord prolapse, breech presentation and shoulder dystocia, all after we've set the scene on assisting with an uncomplicated delivery.

So what would be really good is if we could find someone to bring in some prehospital maternal experience too. Ideally, someone qualified as a midwidfe and paramedic…and we're incredibly lucky to have just that in Aimee Yarrington, who has joined us for the podcast!

As a background; PPH is the third leading cause of maternal death in the UK and the most common cause of obstetric-related intensive care admissions. APH complicates 3–5% of pregnancies and is a leading cause of perinatal and maternal mortality worldwide. Cord prolapse ranges from 0.1% to 0.6%. Breech presentation occurs in 3–4% of term deliveries. Shoulder dystocia has a reported incidence of around 0.70%. And the incidence of primary PPH continues to rise progressively in the UK, reaching as high as 13.8% in 2012–2013. So there's a good reason for us to be experts on these topics.

Let us know any thought and comments you have on the podcast.

Enjoy!

Simon, James & Aimee

So this month we've got a cardiac-arrest-fest for you! With 3 papers centered on the management of cardiac arrest, with some key points that will help inform and improve our practice.

First up we have a think about where patients with a presumed cardiac cause of their arrest should be transported to. Trauma networks in the UK have changed destinations for patients, but is there a patient benefit transporting this patients to a cardiac arrest centre and if so how much?

Next we look at the potential benefit to nurse-led cardiac arrests with a study that might change some thoughts on how we best run and collaborate our cardiac arrests.

Finally we take a look at an open access paper from SJTREM, looking at the use of serum markers to help us prognosticate in hypothermic cardiac arrest and in these really challenging cases there is some great stuff to take from the paper.

Once again we'd love to hear any thoughts or feedback either on the website or via twitter @TheResusRoom.

Simon & Rob