Practicing the Emergency On Labor & Delivery You Cannot Afford to Miss
Why real-time drills for STAT cesarean delivery belong on every Labor and Delivery unit
The Stoics had a term for disciplined preparation under uncertainty: praemeditatio malorum, the deliberate anticipation of adverse outcomes, explicitly including death. It was not pessimism, but professional responsibility. By imagining failure before it occurs, one is better prepared to prevent it.
In modern obstetrics, few situations demand this mindset more than rare, time-critical emergencies on Labor and Delivery, where outcomes depend not on intentions, but on whether systems perform as designed when minutes matter.
For patients
If you are pregnant, it is reasonable to ask your doctor whether their hospital practices real-time emergency drills on Labor and Delivery, how often those drills are done, and whether your doctor has personally participated. These drills are not about rare scenarios alone. They are about making sure teams can respond quickly and safely when unexpected fetal heart rate emergencies occur. Asking these questions is not confrontational. It is part of informed, proactive care.
The problem, clearly defined
For paid customers we include a template to download for a time-sensitive emergency drill on L&D.
