David E. Arnolds, MD, PhD, Aaron Smith, BA, Jennifer M. Banayan, MD, Roxane Holt, MD, and Barbara M. Scavone, MD, National Partnership for Maternal Safety Recommended Maternal Early Warning Criteria Are Associated With Maternal Morbidity, Anesthesia & Analgesia, December 2019, Vol 129, Number 6, DOI: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000003889
Many cases of maternal mortality and morbidity are preventable. A delayed response to clinical warning signs contributes to preventability. Therefore, the National Partnership for Maternal Safety devised maternal early warning criteria (MEWC), composed of abnormal vital signs that trigger bedside evaluation by a provider with the capacity to escalate care. The relationship of the MEWC to maternal morbidity has not been studied. We evaluated the correlation between the MEWC and maternal morbidity.