Understanding About Maternal Sepsis

Maternal Sepsis
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Maternal Sepsis
Maternal sepsis is defined as a life-threatening condition caused by an organ dysfunction occasioned by an infection either during pregnancy, at childbirth or after an abortion, or during the postpartum period (Knowles et al., 2016). Maternal sepsis is a significant contributor to maternal deaths as it accounts for fifteen percent of all maternal deaths, which makes it the second leading cause of maternal mortality. The signs and symptoms of maternal sepsis may be pretty challenging to point out due to disparities in how different women adapt to pregnancy. Besides blood loss after birth and maternal pushing efforts, the effects of interventions required during labor have made it increasingly difficult to diagnose maternal sepsis early (Knowles et al., 2016). Therefore, it is imperative to note that maternal sepsis is a medical emergency that must be attended to as soon as possible once it has been detected.
There have been several attempts by global medical care organizations towards addressing maternal sepsis. One of such attempts was the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC), which aimed to change clinical behavior by developing evidence-based guidelines and multi-faceted interventions. The SSC proved to be particularly helpful in increasing compliance with guidelines but was not beneficial in reducing cases of maternal sepsis. However, despite the attempts, cases of maternal sepsis have constantly been on the rise globally (Knowles et al., 2016). Some of the symptoms of maternal sepsis may include vaginal discharge with a foul smell, dizziness and collapsing in extreme instances, vaginal bleeding, lower abdominal pain, chills, and maybe fever (Knowles et al., 2016).
During pregnancy, the maternal intervascular volume increases, leading to an increase in the maternal heart rate (Knowles et al., 2016). The implication is that the mother begins experiencing respiratory changes, characterized by an increase in tidal volume and a corresponding decrease in functional residual capacity. The resultant effect is that the level of oxygen reserve declines. Therefore, in the case of a severe infection, the mother cannot compensate for the loss of oxygen, leading to metabolic acidosis. In addition, due to the infection, the immunity of the fetus responds by allowing the tolerance of fetal antigens making the maternal genitourinary tract susceptible to invasion of micro-organisms (Knowles et al., 2016). Once the micro-organisms invade the maternal genitourinary tract, it increases the chances of being infected by pyelonephritis and chorioamnionitis (Knowles et al., 2016).
Birth through a cesarean secti...