Cesarean Delivery: Major Abdominal Surgery

Welcome back to The Critical Care Obstetrics Podcast with hosts Suzanne McMurtry Baird (Nursing Director) and Stephanie Martin (Medical Director) of Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics.

In this episode, we explore why cesarean delivery is not just another routine procedure—but truly a major abdominal surgery. While C-section is the most common surgical procedure performed in U.S. hospitals, its seriousness is often overlooked because of its frequency. We discuss:

• Why 1 in 3 births by cesarean should not normalize the risks
• The role of evidence-based practices: avoiding the first cesarean, neuraxial anesthesia, infection prevention, and family-centered care
• What makes it a major surgery: open abdomen, incision types, considerations in obese patients, and classical cesarean challenges
• Safety for mothers, babies, and support persons in the OR
• Common complications including VTE, infection and sepsis, blood loss, injury to other organs, and the rising risk of placenta accreta spectrum

We also highlight our new lecture in the Postpartum Course covering PACU care and Enhanced Recovery After Cesarean, including RN qualifications, complication management, and communication essentials.

🔗 Learn more about the Critical Care Obstetrics Academy and Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics at www.clinicalconceptsinob.com

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The experts at Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics pool their decades of experience caring for critically ill pregnant women to discuss the challenges encountered in caring for these vulnerable women.

Dr Stephanie Martin is the Medical Director for Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics and a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist with expertise in critical care obstetrics.

Suzanne McMurtry Baird, DNP, RN is the Nursing Director for Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics with many years of experience caring for critically ill pregnant women.

Julie Arafeh, RN, MS is the Simulation Director for Clinical Concepts in Obstetrics and a leading expert in simulation.

Critical Care Obstetrics Academy: https://www.clinicalconceptsinob.com/

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