Obstetric care and also new born care is critical to every new mother. Such care helps reduce the cases of maternal deaths and neonatal deaths. Obstetric services basically comprise of activities such as administering antibiotics, manual removal of the placenta after birth, removal of products that were retained after a miscarriage or after an abortion, vaginal delivery sometimes by use of a vacuum extractor and lastly neonatal care mainly involving resuscitation, there are also some hospitals which provide services such as safe blood transfusion, caesarian delivery and provision of extra care to sick and underweight newborns who require specialized medical attention.
The various obstetric services are divided into a number of levels which include the following.
1. Basic Care
This level basically entails handling uncomplicated pregnancies and management of unanticipated maternal and also neonatal problems that may occur after delivery. This type of basic care is provided until the patient is transferred to a facility where specialized maternal care can be provided for the best results.
2. Specialty Care
The second level of obstetric care services is specialty care. This level handles both level one cases and also high risk post-partum cases that cannot be handled in level one. The high risk conditions and complications that are handled in this level include placenta injuries with no history of uterine surgery and also severe preeclampsia that may result in complications during child birth.
3. Subspecialty Care
This level of obstetric care basically involves tackling more complex issues, maternal medical conditions and neonatal conditions. This level provides advanced imaging services as compared to level one services and level two services. The conditions that are usually handled at this level include placenta injuries with a history of uterine surgery, adult respiratory syndrome and severe preeclampsia which occurred less than thirty four weeks of pregnancy. This level also handles placenta percreta.
In addition to services there are also a number of obstetric emergencies which include;
1. Miscarriage
This basically means loss of a baby before twenty weeks of pregnancy are over
2. Ectopic Pregnancy
This is a situation whereby the egg gets implanted on the fallopian tube instead of the uterus in such a case the pregnancy will have to be stopped because this condition is fatal
3. Placental Abruption
This is a condition that results from the placenta separating itself from the uterus before birth. This condition causes severe bleeding which can negatively affect the health of the mother.
4. Placenta Previa
This is a situation whereby the placenta attaches itself to the lower part of the uterus thus blocking the neck of the womb. This condition may result into severe vaginal bleeding during the pregnancy period.
5. Premature Rupture Of Membranes
This occurs when the amniotic sac bursts before contractions begin. It is usually very critical especially when the water breaks before thirty six weeks of pregnancy are over. This condition may result into major infections on the amniotic sac.
These are the various levels of obstetric services that ae usually provided by various medical facilities and also the various obstetric emergencies
