Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
Fall 10-5-2026
Abstract
Background & Objective
Anesthesia-related maternal mortality has declined substantially, yet cause-of-death attribution captures only a small part of the specialty’s contribution to maternal outcomes. Access barriers, low-volume care, workforce shortages, overstated facility readiness, and unreliable follow-up may shape risk before, during, and after delivery.
Objective: synthesize U.S. evidence using an Access → Capability → Reliability framework and ask: Can patients reach appropriate care? Can facilities deliver it? Is care delivered consistently and equitably?
Methods & Limitations
Methods: SANRA-informed narrative review of PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science through June 2026. Search concepts included obstetric anesthesia, maternal mortality and morbidity, rural access, workforce and facility readiness, anesthetic technique, and disparities. Eighty sources were retained purposively, with contradictory findings reported. Estimates remained linked to their original populations and exposure definitions and were not pooled because of heterogeneity.
Limitations: no registered protocol or dual screening; evidence was largely observational, rural definitions varied, and residual confounding remains.
Recommended Citation
Salim, Abdullah; Iheanacho, Tiffany; and Kable, Sarah, "Beyond Anesthesia-Attributed Mortality: Access, Capability, and Reliability in Obstetric Anesthesia for Rural and Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Patients" (2026). DO Research Day. 32.
https://digitalcommons.lmunet.edu/doresearch/32
