Title : Contributing factors to Decision Delivery Interval (DDI) and impact on foetal outcome at a Central Hospital
Abstract:
Background: The World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates that the goals for quality health care for mothers and neonates have not been achieved.
The decision to delivery interval (DDI) time refers to the timeline from the decision for the caesarean section (CS) to the delivery of the baby. According to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the DDI time should be within ≤ 30 minutes.
Methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed by reviewing all the relevant data for patients booked for a CS at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. A DDI was calculated as a continuum of the four intervals for CS.
Results: The results indicated the DDI was prolonged. The results revealed that the DDI could be reduced, and the three most significant contributing factors identified to increase the DDI were the lack of available staff within the hospital, the lack of surgical theatres, and a significant backlog of patients.
Equipment shortages, limited resources, and the unavailability of postoperative ICU or high care beds led to significant delays, resulting in operating theatre blockages and prolonged DDI.
Conclusion: The study identifies factors contributing to an increase in DDI, and easy improvements can be made. System implementation of the changes can be introduced to reduce the DDI time.
