BMJ  2004;328 (20 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7441.0

Safe interval for emergency caesarean section is 75 minutes

When the decision to deliver by caesarean section is made, time to intervention should be less than 75 minutes to avoid poor maternal and baby outcomes. Thomas and colleagues (p 665) analysed 17 780 singleton births by caesarean section in Wales and England in 2000. They found that, compared with deliveries completed within 15 minutes of the decision for an emergency caesarean section, mothers' and babies' outcomes did not differ from deliveries within 75 minutes. Babies delivered after 75 minutes were more likely to have an Apgar score of less than 7, and their mothers were more likely to require special care. Never the less, the target of 30 minutes should remain as the benchmark for service provision, the authors say.

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National cross sectional survey to determine whether the decision to delivery interval is critical in emergency caesarean section

Jane Thomas, Shantini Paranjothy, and David James
BMJ 2004 328: 665. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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