Patient Evaluation

Pregnancy Issues

  • Pregnant women are more likely to become ill and have more severe illness with H1N1 influenza than many other populations.
  • An obstetrical office or a hospital OB triage area full of pregnant women are risky places to evaluate women with potential H1N1 disease.
  • The challenge is to identify who can be safely assessed over the phone and who needs to be physically evaluated.
  • Many non-pregnant adults appear to have a mild course with H1N1 influenza and may not require treatment.  But pregnant women are in a high-risk group that should be treated if ill or given prophylaxis if exposed.

ACOG/CDC Assessment Algorithm

This new resource (released October 15, 2009) from the American College of Obstetricans and Gynecologists is an excellent tool to guide clinical care of pregnant women with Influenza-Like Illness.  It outlines the questions to ask, the evaluations to perform and the treatments to be offered in a logical step-by-step manner.  It is recommended to be used in the OB office as well as in hospital OB triage units: