Patients With COVID‐19 Undergoing Cesarean Deliveries: Adapting the OR Suite and Perioperative Care to Prevent Transmission

Zou, Kang; Chen, Hong; Liu, Yang

The novel coronavirus SARS‐CoV‐2 first appeared in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and led to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19), which quickly spread globally. Protocols for surgical patients with COVID‐19 were lacking, particularly for pregnant women undergoing cesarean deliveries. Perioperative nurses at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan retrospectively analyzed the perioperative nursing process, including OR preparation, intraoperative care, and OR cleanup, for women with COVID‐19 undergoing cesarean deliveries. Preparation involved altering the layout of the surgical suite, educating staff members, providing personal protective equipment, and creating new in‐house guidelines to help protect personnel and patients. This article describes how perioperative personnel strategized to prevent the transmission of COVID‐19 in the OR and presents a multiple‐case summary of six pregnant patients with COVID‐19 who underwent cesarean deliveries at Tongji Hospital in January and February 2020.