Managing Complications in Pregnancy and Childbirth: - IAWG

INTRODUCTIONvWhile most pregnancies and births are uneventful, all pregnancies areat risk. Around 15% of all pregnant women develop a potentiallylife-threatening complication that calls for skilled care and some willrequire a major obstetrical intervention to survive. This manual iswritten for midwives and doctors at the district hospital who areresponsible for the care of women with complications of pregnancy,childbirth or the immediate postpartum period, including immediateproblems of the newborn.In addition to the care midwives and doctors provide women infacilities, they also have a unique role and relationship with:• the community of health care providers within the district healthsystem, including auxiliary and multipurpose health workers;• family members of patients;• community leaders;• populations with special needs (e.g. adolescents, women withHIV/AIDS).Midwives and doctors:• support activites for the improvement of all district health services;• strive for efficient and reliable referral systems;• monitor the quality of health care services;• advocate for community participation in health related matters.A district hospital is defined as a facility that is capable of providingquality services, including operative delivery and blood transfusion.Although many of the procedures in this manual require specializedequipment and the expertise of specially trained providers, it should benoted that many of the life-saving procedures described can also beperformed at health centres.