Background A full-term woman in labor presented with a history of gestational diabetes and no pulmonary disease. Until the insult, the labor was uncomplicated and the fetal monitor tracing was a category I. The labor and delivery registered nurse was at the bedside charting when the woman (who had an epidural and was taking Pitocin) first began to cough. Case The woman suddenly began to cough, and could not stop. It appeared as if the woman was choking. A prolonged fetal heart rate deceleration was noted, and maternal oxygen saturation and maternal heart rate also dropped. Additional nurses and an anesthesiologist were called to the bedside stat. The patient's radial pulse became nonpalpable, and the oxygen saturation finger clip connected to the electronic fetal monitor did not register a pulse or an oxygen saturation reading; however, an apical pulse via stethoscope was still heard. The woman was moved quickly to the labor and delivery operating room where she was rapidly intubated by the anesthesiologist. Her respiratory status stabilized after intubation. A stat cesarean was performed, and a live newborn was delivered and handed to the awaiting neonatal intensive care unit staff. Bleeding during surgery appeared to be slightly increased. The circulating nurse looked under the operating room drape to check lochia flow and discovered the woman was bleeding profusely from the vagina. Urine output was minimal. An arterial line and a central line were quickly placed by the anesthesiologist because it appeared that the woman had developed disseminated intravascular coagulation. At the same time, the circulating nurse called the blood bank to initiate the obstetric rapid blood transfusion protocol. The blood transfusion protocol is similar to an emergency room trauma blood transfusion protocol. The blood bank follows the protocol by cross matching and thawing several units of blood products at one time according to an established guideline. The woman received multiple units of blood very quickly and never went into cardiac arrest. She was transferred to the intensive care unit immediately after the cesarean where she remained for at least 24 hours. Conclusion The woman and newborn were discharged in stable condition on postpartum day 6.