Burden of sepsis in obstetric critically ill patients: A qualitative systematic review
Authors' conclusion
Robust epidemiological monitoring is therefore urgently required.
Study context
- Population
- Women requiring intensive care unit (ICU) admission for sepsis during pregnancy or the post-partumstudies met the inclusion criteria, of the 5847 screened studies · hospitalised obstetric patients 7,434,710 · obstetric ICU admissions for sepsis 3,593
- Participants
- 25 women
- Outcome
- Incidence of intensive care unit admissions
Methodological detailsall included studies observational, studies published between 2013 and 2025
- All included studies observational
- Studies published between 2013 and 2025
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Range, every 10,000 hospitalized obstetric patients
21 to 857
Among hospitalized obstetric patients with sepsis, reached
11.3%
Further pooled results
Share of obstetric ICU admissions accounted for by sepsis
- Sepsis accounted for, of obstetric ICU admissions
- 5.7%
Organ dysfunction
- Half of the patients had one organ dysfunction, a quarter had three or more; respiratory and cardiovascular insufficiencies most common
Infection sources
- Main sources were the genital, respiratory, and urinary tracts
Septic shock
- Septic shock, of the cases
- 16.6%
Severity scores
- Mean Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score
- 6.2
- APACHE II score
- 12.3
ICU and hospital stay
Days
- ICU stay
- 3
- Hospital stay
- 8
Mortality
- Median mortality
- 4.6%
- Mortality varied significantly, with marked disparities between high- and low-income countries
Original publication
Burden of sepsis in obstetric critically ill patients: A qualitative systematic review. Anaesth Crit Care Pain Med. Published 6 October 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →