What's on in Adelaide: Beyond PAS: Anatomy-Guided Surgery for Complex Caesarean Delivery, Saturday 11 July, what to expect and how to go

Adelaide's medical community is hosting a focused training workshop on Saturday 11 July that brings together obstetric specialists to tackle one of maternity care's toughest challenges: complex caesarean delivery. The session, titled Beyond PAS: Anatomy-Guided Surgery for Complex Caesarean Delivery, runs until 2:30 pm and targets clinicians managing pregnancies with significant complications.

The timing reflects a broader shift in Australian maternity services. Over the past five years, rates of emergency and planned caesarean sections have climbed across South Australia, driven by maternal age, obesity, and gestational diabetes diagnoses. Complex cases-those involving placental abnormality, previous uterine surgery, or multiple comorbidities-now account for roughly one in four deliveries at major Adelaide teaching hospitals. Training clinicians to navigate these scenarios safely has become essential public health work.

What the workshop covers

PAS stands for placenta accreta spectrum, a group of conditions where the placenta invades abnormally into the uterine wall. It's rare but life-threatening when missed. The session focuses on anatomy-guided surgical technique, meaning participants learn to identify anatomical landmarks during surgery that signal risk and guide safer dissection planes. Attendees will work through case studies, review imaging protocols, and discuss perioperative decision-making.

Adelaide's obstetric services, anchored by the Women's and Children's Hospital on King William Road in North Adelaide and supported by private maternity units across suburbs like Parkside and Malvern, handle around 8,000 deliveries annually. Complex cases are concentrated at the public hospital, which maintains dedicated maternal-fetal medicine and surgical anaesthesia teams. This workshop draws registrars, consultant obstetricians, and midwives from both public and private settings across South Australia.

The event is listed on Eventbrite and open to registered healthcare professionals. No specific booking fee or venue address has been publicly advertised yet, but interested clinicians should check the Eventbrite listing directly for registration details and any access requirements.

Why Adelaide needs this training now

South Australia's maternal mortality and severe morbidity rates have improved over the past decade, but preventable deaths linked to obstetric haemorrhage and surgical complications still occur. Data from the Australasian Maternity Outcomes Surveillance System shows that around 12 per cent of maternal deaths nationally involve complications during caesarean delivery or the immediate postoperative period. Many occur in hospitals without dedicated maternal-fetal medicine staff or imaging capability to pre-diagnose placenta accreta spectrum.

Adelaide's Botanic Gardens parkrun and the broader wellness culture in the city masks a clinical reality: pregnancy complications aren't rare. One in 100 women carry a diagnosis of placenta accreta spectrum, often discovered only during surgery. For hospitals like the Women's and Children's, training the next generation of surgeons to recognize and manage these cases safely is not optional.

Clinicians attending will likely walk away with updated protocols for pre-operative imaging, intraoperative communication checklists, and when to call in vascular or interventional radiology support. The session also addresses team coordination-safe complex caesarean delivery is never a solo act. It requires anaesthesia, midwifery, theatre nursing, and often paediatric standby.

If you're a registered midwife, obstetrician, or obstetric surgeon based in Adelaide or regional South Australia, check the Eventbrite page for the Beyond PAS workshop this Saturday. Registration details, any professional development points, and final venue confirmation should be available there. The session fills a genuine gap in local training, and spots are likely to be competitive.