Attempts have been made to set standards for a maximum time taken between the decision to proceed to LSCS and delivery of the baby (the ‘decision-to-delivery interval’ or DDI) for each grade of urgency.

Each patient should be assessed individually and delivery speed determined by the obstetrician, midwife and anaesthetist in conjunction.

A suggested standard is that the DDI for grade 1 LSCS should be less than 30 minutes. This is not always achievable in practice.