O&G Cases · Postpartum care — hypertensive disease
Seizure on day 11 after birth — postpartum eclampsia emergency station
Team-based emergency station: late postpartum eclampsia in a woman with no antenatal hypertension. Tests immediate seizure management, magnesium and blood pressure control with named doses, active exclusion of the mimics, closed-loop team leadership, and communication with a frightened partner. Includes assessor timeline, marking domains, assessor key and fail criteria.
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Target exams
Station brief
Format. Emergency management station, approximately 12 minutes. You are the obstetric registrar in a tertiary emergency department. An emergency physician, a nurse and a midwife are available; the obstetric consultant has been called and is 20 minutes away. The assessor runs the clock and feeds new observations. [2]
Candidate instruction. Lead the management of this woman. Verbalise your actions, your drug orders with doses, your differential, your escalation triggers, and your communication with the team and with her partner. [2][4]
You have read the opening of this case. The complete unit — every section and its primary-source references — is part of the Obstetrics & Gynaecology fellowship atlas.
References6Show ledgerHide ledger
- [1]Chames MC, Livingston JC, Ivester TS, Barton JR, Sibai BM Late postpartum eclampsia: a preventable disease? Am J Obstet Gynecol, 2002.PMID 12066093
- [2]Gestational Hypertension and Preeclampsia: ACOG Practice Bulletin, Number 222 Obstet Gynecol, 2020.PMID 32443079
- [3]Altman D, Carroli G, Duley L, et al. Do women with pre-eclampsia, and their babies, benefit from magnesium sulphate? The Magpie Trial: a randomised placebo-controlled trial Lancet, 2002.PMID 12057549
- [4]Brown MA, Magee LA, Kenny LC, et al. Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: ISSHP Classification, Diagnosis, and Management Recommendations for International Practice Hypertension, 2018.PMID 29899139
- [5]Alhazmi AM, Albulushi A Targeted antihypertensive therapy after hypertensive pregnancy: Lactation-safe choices, treatment thresholds, and outcomes (2015-2025) Curr Probl Cardiol, 2025.PMID 41077107
- [6]Garneni M, Huang A, Obionu I, Mahmoud Z Persistent and de novo postpartum hypertension: a scoping review of pathophysiology, evaluation, and management NPJ Cardiovasc Health, 2026.PMID 42082630