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Background: Research benefits from the incorporation of patient-important outcomes. We interviewed individuals after a critical illness during pregnancy to identify outcomes for the development of a core outcome set (COS)., Methods: Participants were identified through intensive care unit (ICU) admissions in Toronto, Canada, and Barranquilla, Colombia. Interviewers used a semi-structured guide, and discussions were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts underwent inductive thematic analysis to delineate themes and patient-important outcomes., Results: Twelve individuals were interviewed. Twenty-six patient-important outcomes were elicited, which represented the core outcome areas of mortality ( n  = 1), physiological/clinical outcomes ( n  = 7), functioning and life impact ( n  = 13), resource use ( n  = 4) and adverse events ( n  = 1). These related to five identified themes of mental well-being, quality of care delivered, clinicians' communication, regaining functional independence and mother-newborn separation., Conclusions: This qualitative study identified patient-important outcomes from persons with lived experience of critical illness in pregnancy which will inform the development of a COS., Competing Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Although the pregnant population was affected by early waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing transmission and severity due to new viral variants has resulted in an increased incidence of severe illness during pregnancy in many regions. Critical illness and respiratory failure are relatively uncommon occurrences during pregnancy, and there are limited high-quality data to direct management. This paper reviews the current literature on COVID-19 management as it relates to pregnancy, and provides an overview of critical care support in these patients. COVID-19 drug therapy is similar to that used in the non-pregnant patient, including anti-inflammatory therapy with steroids and IL-6 inhibitors, although safety data are limited for antiviral drugs such as remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies. As both pregnancy and COVID-19 are thrombogenic, thromboprophylaxis is essential. Endotracheal intubation is a higher risk during pregnancy, but mechanical ventilation should follow usual principles. ICU management should be directed at optimizing maternal well-being, which in turn will benefit the fetus., Competing Interests: SEL is a co-editor-in-chief of this journal, but was not involved in the review or acceptance process., (© The Author(s) 2021.)