Hemorrhagic States during Pregnancy

Abstract

Amniotic-Fluid EmbolismA second cause of generalized bleeding during parturition is amniotic-fluid embolism. In this condition, first described in 1941 by Steiner and Lushbaugh, amniotic fluid enters the maternal circulation just before, during or after childbirth. In about two thirds of the reported cases, the women have been thirty years of age or older, and most have been multiparous. Moreover, in at least half the cases, labor has been excessively severe and rapid. Typically, in one group of cases severe respiratory distress, with dyspnea and cyanosis, suddenly develops and the patient dies within a matter of minutes. In other cases . . .