ABSTRACT
Women’s healthcare needs are often neglected in low resource settings, for a variety of reasons including their status, cultural issues or lack of healthcare planning. While maternal health has rightly attracted significant resources to prevent death or complication during pregnancy, childbirth and six weeks post-partum, this is a very narrow period of a woman’s life and only focuses on the woman if she is pregnant. The World Health Organization estimated 289,000 maternal deaths occurred in 2010, with 99% occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Risk factors for maternal sepsis include obesity, diabetes, anaemia, sickle cell disease, history of pelvic infection of group B streptococcal infection. Critical care interventions focus on the reason for admission; considerations for nursing a critically ill maternal patient may include: airway, emergency caesarean section, and other considerations. Conditions or situations which may require a woman to be admitted to a critical care unit include: rise of non-communicable disease, complications from female genital mutilation, and maternal emergencies.
