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Obstetrics
How rare is a prehospital birth? Very
Prehospital Births in the Region of Southern Denmark-A Cohort From 2016 to 2024
Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica · 2026-11 · Added 6 October 2026
Eight-year cross-sectional review of Danish EMS records found unplanned prehospital births attended by ambulance staff are rare — 310 assisted deliveries, 0.03% of all missions — with most complications manageable by crews.
- Study type
- Cross-sectional
- Design
- Cross-sectional review of prehospital electronic patient care records
- Participants
- 1,137,222 ambulance dispatches over 8 years in a region of 1.2 million people
- Main finding
- 3,543 dispatches (0.31%) were childbirth-related; ambulance staff assisted 310 out-of-hospital deliveries (0.03% of all missions) and performed delaying obstetric manoeuvres in 10 further complex cases
- Caveat
- Single Danish region with manual record review; no maternal or neonatal outcomes beyond the EMS encounter
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (High relevance). Childbirth is a universal low-frequency, high-stakes call type, and this quantifies how little hands-on practice most crews ever get, wherever they work.
Learning goal
Strengthen my readiness to manage an imminent prehospital birth given how rarely I attend one.
More
- Topic: Obstetrics
- Daily scan: 6 October 2026
- Podcast: Paramedic Papers Daily, 6 October 2026
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