Severe maternal morbidity requiring intensive care units admission in the Slovak Republic - a 9-year population based study.

Objective: Analysis of life-threatening maternal morbidities, the condition of which required subsequent treatment in Intensive Care Units (ICU) in the Slovak Republic in the years 2012-2020.

Methodology: Retrospective analysis of 655 identified cases of mothers admitted to the intensive care units out of 436,136 births. The reasons for the transport were divided into nine categories: peripartum bleeding, hypertensive diseases, thromboembolism, cardiovascular diseases, sepsis/severe infections, metabolic diseases, complications of anaesthesiology, gastroenterological problems and others.

Results: The total incidence of admission to the intensive care units in the observed period was 1.5 per 1,000 births, but for mothers of Roma nationality it was 8.8 per 1,000 births. The average age of mothers was 30.7 years, while 29.7% were over 35 years old. Overweight and obesity was present by 70.4% of mothers. The most common reason for transport to the ICU (49.3%) was severe postpartum hemorrhage. The second most common cause (26.0%) was hypertensive diseases (preeclampsia, eclampsia and HELLP syndrome). The third most common cause (4.9%) was sepsis and severe maternal infections. The mortality rate of mothers admitted to the ICU was 2.3% and infant mortality of these mothers was 8.7%.

Conclusion: The incidence of admission of mothers to the ICU in the monitored years was 1.5 per 1,000 births, which in international comparison ranks Slovakia among countries with a lower incidence.