Emergency caesarean sections should be completed within 75 minutes

Emergency caesarean sections should be completed within 75 minutes to reduce the risk of poor outcomes for mother and baby, according to a UK survey.

Data presented in the British Medical Journal online from 17,780 singleton caesarean deliveries was used to compare outcomes. After the decision was made to perform a caesarean, deliveries were classified into 15-minute intervals, ranging from under 15 minutes to over 75 minutes.

Compared with babies delivered within 15 minutes, there was no difference in maternal or baby outcome for decision-to-delivery interval between 16 and 75 minutes.

After 75 minutes, the newborn was more likely to have an Apgar score at five minutes of less than seven. There was also increased likelihood that the mother would need special care in addition to routine care.

The UK researchers state that the generally accepted standard of delivering within 30 minutes should be retained but that this is not an absolute threshold for influencing the health of the baby. The 30-minute interval should remain the benchmark as 'adopting 75 minutes could lead to complacency'.

They suggest that the longer interval 'should be added as a clinically important audit standard', and that all emergency caesarean deliveries should occur within this time.