FOI 25-129 Pregnancy Complication 2020 - 2025
Freedom of Information Request
- Reference
- FOI 25-129 Pregnancy Complication 2020 - 2025
- Request Date
- 14 Mar 2025
- Response Date
- 02 Apr 2025
- Information Requested
I would like to request the following information from the Scottish Ambulance Service concerning maternity/obstetric emergencies attended by paramedics from 2020 to 2025:
Categorised Data: The total number of maternity/obstetric emergencies by category, specifically: Postpartum Hemorrhage (PPH) Antepartum Hemorrhage (APH) Cord Prolapse Breech Birth Shoulder Dystocia Normal Delivery Neonatal Resuscitation Maternal Resuscitation
Please provide a breakdown of the number of cases in each of these categories, both overall and for each region and health board, for the years 2020 to 2025.
Overall Call Volume and Percentages: The total number of maternity/obstetric emergency calls received by the Scottish Ambulance Service each year from 2020 to 2025.
The percentage of these calls relative to the overall call volume of the Scottish Ambulance Service each year.
Delivery and Resuscitation Data: Of the maternity/obstetric emergencies, the percentage where a baby was actually delivered by the paramedics on scene. The percentage of cases where neonatal or maternal resuscitation was required.
Critical Care and Emergency Cesarean Sections: The number of calls each year that involved the use of critical care resources (e.g., advanced life support, critical care transport, etc.). The number of cases each year where an emergency cesarean section was required.
Midwife Presence: For each of the years from 2020 to 2025, how many of the maternity/obstetric emergencies involved a midwife being present during the birth.
If available, please specify how often midwives were involved in the delivery process during these emergencies.
Distance from Nearest Hospital (for cases where a birth was reported on scene): For each year from 2020 to 2025, please provide the number of maternity/obstetric emergency calls, specifically those that reported a birth on scene, that occurred more than 20 minutes away from the nearest hospital. Additionally, please provide the number of such cases where the birth occurred less than 20 minutes away from the nearest hospital.
- Response
Please see the attached sheet detailing the information requested for shoulder dystocia incidents, breech incidents, cord prolapse incidents, delivery note incidents, midwife present incidents and post-partum haemorrhage. The numbers are too small for each category to be broken down into health board regions.
These tables also include the total number of pregnancy incidents attended which had the diagnostic code as ‘24 - Pregnancy’.
The date frame for the data is 01/01/2020 - 28/02/2025.
This information has been provided in two tables as a new clinical system is being phased in. This phased system has been in place since June 24 and involves only a portion of Scotland. There is the possibility that an incident from the Terrapace 3 system could be counted in the Terrapace 2 system and therefore the figures in the table should NOT be added together.
For the given data, you will see that some of the figures are shown as, five or less than five, please note that this figure has been suppressed because the statistical value is less than five. The Scottish Ambulance service has a duty, under the Data Protection Act to avoid directly or indirectly revealing any personal details. It is therefore widely understood that provision of statistics on small numbers, five or less are statistically suppressed upon disclosure.
Public authorities are not required to create information in order to answer a request. There’s a distinction between creating new information, and compiling information. Where a request can be answered by compiling information from readily-available resources held by the public authority, this is not the same as creating new information. However, if collation of the information would require skill and complex judgement, the information is not held.
The Scottish Ambulance Service does not hold data in a way that allows us to report on maternity/obstetric calls that occurred more or less than 20 minutes away from the nearest hospital, antepartum haemorrhaging, if a paramedic delivered a baby, if calls involved critical care resources, how many midwives attended, or if an emergency c-section was performed. it is for this reason we have applied section 17 of the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002, as information not held.
- Response Documents
