Sepsis and Pregnancy

Infection, sepsis and septic shock are a spectrum of disease from “mild” to severe, from a diagnosis that we have all had at different times of our lives, if even only due to the common cold, to severe disease. Take these challenges – common conditions, range in severity from mild to severe, and multiple different presentations – and then add in pregnancy, where we must think of both an adult and a baby, and where sepsis may be masked by the common symptoms of pregnancy, making the diagnosis and treatment potentially more difficult. The aim of this review is to support healthcare professionals and educate regarding sepsis in pregnancy. As with the clinical care that we provide, this review was written with the input of a multidisciplinary team. Here we have included nurses, midwives, obstetricians, microbiologists and anaesthesiologists, but we also recognise that other specialities may be required to provide care when pregnant people have sepsis, including pharmacy, infectious diseases, neonatology, general medical physicians and the medical specialities, surgery and the surgical specialities, allied health including physiotherapists, occupational therapists and dietetics; high dependency, intensive care, peri-operative teams and (as always) the wonderful medical scientists that help us make these diagnoses.

Firstly, to review the difference between infection, sepsis and septic shock. Infection is defined as the invasion and multiplication of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites that are not normally present within the body.