Informed consent in obstetrics - a survey of pregnant women to set a new standard for consent in emergency obstetric interventions.

Informed consent is necessary for all medical, surgical and obstetric interventions. Whilst informed consent can be obtained for elective procedures, it is much more challenging to obtain for emergency interventions. It can be difficult for women to understand the need for emergency intervention when pregnancy has been low risk. This can lead to problems with psychological trauma from the delivery being foremost in their minds in the postnatal period and in future pregnancies. The Montgomery ruling of 2015 encouraged informing women about risks and benefits of interventions and letting the women take responsibility for their own decision-making. Here, a patient-focused survey collected information on pregnant women's knowledge and wishes regarding emergency interventions. The responses were analysed in relation to local and Scottish national delivery data. We have initiated a novel programme to ensure all of our pregnant women are empowered to give informed consent for emergency interventions.IMPACT STATEMENTWhat is already known on this subject? There has been very little published on this subject to date and what has been published has involved focus groups or very small numbers of women.What do the results of this study add? This study adds significantly to our understanding of current Scottish and Highland regional delivery statistics to help foster realistic delivery expectations in our pregnant women. This study is the first to report on pregnant women's understanding of the possibility of requiring emergency intervention in labour and the relevant risks. It also highlights the fact that women prefer to get their information from community midwives, friends and family rather than their obstetricians or GPs. This study is also the first to report women's actual preferences and comments with regard to information provision, labour and delivery experiences and their wishes for the future.What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The findings from this study have allowed us to develop and implement a novel means of obtaining informed consent in emergency obstetrics and the success of this programme will be reported following future analysis of patient experiences.

Maternal and neonatal outcomes following additional doses of vaginal prostaglandin E2 for induction of labour: a retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess maternal and neonatal outcomes following the use of additional doses of vaginal prostaglandins (PGE2) above the recommended dose for induction of labour in post-dates pregnancies. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study set in Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, Aberdeen, UK. A total of 3514 nulliparous women with labour induced with vaginal PGE2 (3mg tablet or 2mg gel) for a post-dates singleton pregnancy from January 1994 to December 2009 were included. Women receiving≤2 doses of PGE2 were compared with those receiving>2 doses (maximum 5 doses). Binary logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Primary outcomes included mode of delivery, terbutaline use, indication for CS, postpartum haemorrhage, neonatal unit admission, and Apgar score<7. A further analysis was conducted which stratified for number of doses of PGE2 given. RESULTS: Of the 3514 women who met inclusion criteria, 605 (17%) received PGE2 that exceeded the licensed dose. They were more likely to deliver by caesarean section (53.4% vs. 31.8%, OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.8-2.6), have a caesarean section for 'failed' induction of labour (11.4% vs. 1.9%, OR 4.1, 95% CI 1.3-13.2) or lack of progress in labour (37% vs. 17%, OR 2.8, 95% CI 2.3-3.4), but not for fetal concerns (8.2% vs. 8.8% OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.7-1.3). Terbutaline use and postpartum haemorrhage was no more likely (0.7% vs. 0.9% OR 0.6 95% CI 0.3-1.5 and 19.8% vs. 18.9% OR1.01, 95% CI 0.97-1.06 respectively). Apgar score<7 (1.1% vs. 1.3% OR 0.9 95% CI 0.8-1.1) and neonatal unit admission (13.7% vs. 10.7% OR 1.2 95% CI 0.8-1.6) were similar in both groups. CONCLUSION: The use of additional doses of vaginal PGE2 above the recommended dose for induction of labour was not associated with increased maternal or neonatal morbidity and almost half of these women achieved a vaginal delivery.