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Maternal cardiac arrest — DipIMC MCQ

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HardPaediatric and Obstetric EmergenciesMaternal cardiac arrestDipIMC

A woman at 38 weeks arrests in a clinic. ALS is underway with manual uterine displacement and there is no ROSC after several minutes. What is the most appropriate management?

Educational content. Not a substitute for clinical judgement or local policy.

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Correct answer: C — Prepare for resuscitative hysterotomy at about 4 minutes if no ROSC

Option C is correct because Resuscitative hysterotomy can improve maternal venous return and fetal survival when ROSC is not rapid. Option A is less appropriate because watchful waiting risks deterioration or delays definitive care; option E is less appropriate because the clinical risk exceeds that destination or timeframe. Option B is less appropriate because it is plausible in a different scenario but suboptimal for the features described; option D is less appropriate because analgesia is important but not sufficient as the primary intervention. Clinical pearl: in DipIMC-style questions, the best answer is the intervention that changes outcome earliest in the pre-hospital phase.

Reference: Resuscitation Council UK Guidelines