Obstetric implications of acute respiratory failure during the peripartum period

Abstract

Pregnant women are at risk for episodes of acute respiratory failure due to anatomical changes brought on by the gestational period, as well as the characteristic immunohumoral status. Due to these changes, women are more prone to develop severe forms of respiratory pathologies and frequent complications. For this reason, pregnant women should be carefully monitored, thus avoiding dramatic situations that require mechanical ventilation, cardiorespiratory support or resuscitation maneuvers. The symptomatology and values of paraclinical parameters are often altered in pregnancy and thus they are not very helpful in diagnosis. However, early diagnosis of underlying disease is critical in these cases and the treatment should be started promptly. In addition to the idea of a careful follow-up, the presence of the fetus warrants extreme care, using some of the diagnostic and treatment techniques for maternal acute respiratory failure, as it may rapidly suffer irreversible effects due to hypoxia.