ACOG Committee Opinion No. 726: Hospital Disaster Preparedness for Obstetricians and Facilities Providing Maternity Care

ABSTRACT: Large-scale catastrophic events and infectious disease outbreaks highlight the need for disaster planning at all community levels. Features unique to the obstetric population (including antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum and neonatal care) warrant special consideration in the event of a disaster. Pregnancy increases the risks of untoward outcomes from various infectious diseases. Trauma during pregnancy presents anatomic and physiologic considerations that often can require increased use of resources such as higher rates of cesarean delivery. Recent evidence suggests that floods and human-influenced environmental disasters increase the risks of spontaneous miscarriages, preterm births, and low-birth-weight infants among pregnant women…

ACOG Committee Opinion No. 726: Hospital Disaster Preparedness for Obstetricians and Facilities Providing Maternity Care.