Resuscitation – Level 2 – Maternal Basic Life Support

There are several physiological and anatomical changes during pregnancy that may influence the management of cardiac arrest on a pregnant patient. This course looks at these changes, as well as common reversible causes of cardiac arrest during pregnancy.

This course also looks at the steps for assessing a pregnant patient that may be under cardiac arrest and highlights the modifications of the BLS algorithm for pregnancy. Finally, this course addresses the importance of team communication and collaboration and provides recommendations for improved teamwork.

It is followed by a knowledge check and scenario-based assessment.

Upon completion of this course, the learner will be able to:

• Explain how physiological and anatomical changes in pregnancy may affect resuscitation for cardiac arrest, including an outline of the causes of obstetric cardiac arrest
• List the potential reversible causes of obstetric collapse and describe their relevance to cardiac arrest in pregnancy
• Recognise obstetric cardiac arrest
• Describe adult resuscitation and the modifications required for cardiac arrest in pregnancy
• Describe how the members of the wider resuscitation team collaborate during and after an obstetric cardiac arrest.

This course is made up of the following modules:

• Introduction
• Anatomical and Physiological Changes in Pregnancy
• Causes and Prevention of Cardiac Arrest in Pregnancy
• Assessing the Collapsed Pregnant Patient
• ALS algorithm modifications for cardiac arrest in pregnancy
• Team collaboration and communication