Context
Although the exact numbers are unknown, labour and birth in the ED is understood to be a rare occurrence thanks to the ready access of UK maternity services1. There are however, reasons why patients in labour may present to the ED instead of maternity services. These include; concealed pregnancy, maternal denial of pregnancy, lack of knowledge about maternity services, preterm rupture of membranes (PROM), chorioamnionitis, pre-eclampsia/Eclampsia, illicit drug use, maternal trauma, and maternal cardiac arrest1,2.
While the majority of spontaneous births (approximately 90%) require practically no medical intervention2, it is essential that ED practitioners are prepared to manage both normal and abnormal presentations of labour; including delivery and peripartum complications, and to appropriately stratify for transfer to obstetric services.