الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
In obstetrics there are two patients to care for instead of one, a mother and a baby or fetus. The management of one patient heavily affects the management of the other. Sometimes the decision has to be made to care for one patient at the expense of the other; i.e., care for the mother first. The second patient (the fetus) may be viable or not (Daniel, 2009).During pregnancy, the pregnant mother undergoes significant anatomical and physiological changes in order to nurture and accommodate the developing foetus. These changes begin after conception and affect every organ system in the body. It is important to differentiate between normal physiological changes and disease pathology (Locktich, 1997).Over half a million women die each year from pregnancy related causes, 99% in low and middle income countries. In many low income countries, complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death amongst women of reproductive years (Duley, 2009).The most common procedure in obstetrics requiring anaesthesia is caesarean section (Crowhurst et al., 1999).Many anesthesiologists fear obstetric emergencies because they represent one of the most extreme challenges in the profession. Obstetric emergencies can be life threatening to the mother-to-be, the fetus, or both, bleeding can be catastrophic,and timely intervention is important , including obstetric hemorrhage, fetal compromise, and special situations, such as pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), difficult airway, morbid obesity, and maternal cardiac arrest (Chantal , 2000). The anaesthetist plays a key role in the management of high-risk pregnancies, and must be a member of the multidisciplinary team that is required to care for the critically ill obstetric patient. Anaesthetists are trained in advanced life support and resuscitation. They are experienced in the management of the critically ill, and provide anaesthesia, sedation and pain management. There is little evidence to inform the anaesthetic management of the critically ill obstetric patient; most recommendations and guidelines are based on the management of non-obstetric, critically ill patients. Management must be adapted to encompass the physiological changes of pregnancy. Evidence-based guidelines on management of the critically ill woman with specific obstetric conditions are also lacking (Felicity, 2008).