ICU · Obstetrics

Critical illness in pregnancy: ICU management and obstetric emergencies

Also known as Pregnancy in ICU · Maternal ICU · Obstetric critical care · Peripartum ICU · Maternal mortality

Critical illness in pregnancy: physiological adaptations of pregnancy alter drug dosing, ventilation, circulation. Key changes: increased cardiac output (+30-40%), decreased SVR, increased blood volume, decreased albumin, dilutional anaemia, elevated diaphragm (decreased FRC), increased clotting factors (hypercoagulable). Common ICU indications: severe pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, HELLP, peripartum cardiomyopathy, amniotic fluid embolism, sepsis (pyelonephritis, chorioamnionitis), trauma, asthma, diabetic emergencies. Position: LEFT LATERAL tilt (avoid aortocaval compression from gravid uterus — especially after 20 weeks). Drugs: avoid ACEi/ARB, NSAIDs (3rd trimester), aminoglycosides, warfarin (teratogenic). Fetal monitoring.

Checked against its sources on 3 Sept 2026