The Scottish Maternity Early Warning Score (MEWS)

The Scottish MEWS was launched in October 2018 and advocates a system to standarise the assessment and escalation of potential deterioration in pregnant and postnatal women.

Scottish MEWS is designed to account for the normal physiological changes of pregnancy. Scottish MEWS aims to improve the recognition of pregnant and postnatal women at risk of clinical deterioration and facilitate early intervention. The tool is intended to guide clinical judgement,  not replace it. Scottish MEWS uses a simple yellow and red colour code as a trigger. All triggers should be added and documented at the bottom of the Scottish MEWS each time observations are recorded. 

All antenatal and postnatal women who enter an acute hospital setting should have their core observations recorded on the Scottish MEWS Chart. Scottish MEWS should not be used in the intrapartum period.  If the woman scores any yellow or red scores, the escalation guideline should be initiated. Core observations are:

• Respiratory rate
• Oxygen saturation
• Temperature
• Maternal heart rate
• Systolic blood pressure
• Diastolic blood pressure
• Neuro response
• Urine output
• Looks unwell

To support local implementation of Scottish MEWS, SPSP has produced resources available to download. There is no copyright restriction on the Scottish MEWS chart; however, anyone looking to reproduce the chart and lanyard cards:

• must not modify or amend the chart in any way
• must reproduce the Scottish MEWS charts in full colour, and
• use the high-resolution versions of the chart available on this page.