Pulmonary oedema in the course of severe maternal outcome in South Africa: A cohort study combined with clinical audit.

Objectives: To describe the incidence and outcomes of pulmonary oedema in women with severe maternal outcome during childbirth and identify possible modifiable factors through audit.

Methods: All women with severe maternal outcome (maternal deaths or near misses) who were referred to Tygerberg referral hospital from health facilities in Metro East district, South Africa, during 2014-2015 were included. Women with severe maternal outcome and pulmonary oedema during pregnancy or childbirth were evaluated using three types of critical incident audit: criterion-based case review by one consultant gynaecologist, monodisciplinary critical incident audit by a team of gynaecologists, multidisciplinary audit with expert review from anaesthesiologists and cardiologists.

Maternal mortality: near-miss events in middle-income countries, a systematic review.

Objective: To describe the incidence and main causes of maternal near-miss events in middle-income countries using the World Health Organization's (WHO) maternal near-miss tool and to evaluate its applicability in these settings.

Methods: We did a systematic review of studies on maternal near misses in middle-income countries published over 2009-2020. We extracted data on number of live births, number of maternal near misses, major causes of maternal near miss and most frequent organ dysfunction.

Great saves or near misses? Severe maternal outcome in Metro East, South Africa: A region-wide population-based case-control study.

Objective: To assess the incidence of severe maternal outcome (SMO), comprising maternal mortality (MM) and maternal near miss (MNM), in Metro East health district, Western Cape Province, South Africa between November 2014 and November 2015 and to identify associated determinants leading to SMO with the aim to improve maternity care.

Methods: Region-wide population-based case-control study. Women were included in the study, if they were maternal deaths or met MNM criteria, both as defined by WHO.

Major obstetric haemorrhage in Metro East, Cape Town, South Africa: a population-based cohort study using the maternal near-miss approach.

Background: Major obstetric haemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal mortality and accounts for one-third of maternal deaths in of Africa. This study aimed to assess the population-based incidence, causes, management and outcomes of major obstetric haemorrhage and risk factors associated with poor maternal outcome.

Methods: Women with major obstetric haemorrhage who met the WHO maternal near-miss criteria or died in the Metro East region, Cape Town, South Africa, were evaluated from November 2014-November 2015.

A district-wide population-based descriptive study of emergency peripartum hysterectomy in a middle-income country.

Objective: To determine incidence, risk indicators, and outcomes of emergency peripartum hysterectomy (EPH) in Metro East, Cape Town, South Africa.

Methods: A population-based district-wide prospective descriptive study of EPH in public hospitals from November 2014 to November 2015. Women were enrolled by using the WHO maternal near miss tool and followed until discharge.

Saved from a fatal flight: A ruptured splenic artery aneurysm in a pregnant woman.

Introduction: The reported prevalence of a SAA varies between 0.01 and 10.4% [1], and since SAAs often remain asymptomatic, the true prevalence is uncertain.