Introduction
Cesarean section is one of the most frequent surgical procedures performed in the world (1) and represents 20.2% of all births in France in 2016 (2). Emergency cesarean sections may occur in different clinical situations with varying degrees of emergency (3). Many studies have tried to find the acceptable time frame for an emergency cesarean section, but there is no international consensus to date (4). Some learned societies advocate an acceptable decision-delivery interval, such as in the United Kingdom or Germany (5,6).
In France, Dupuis et al  developed a tool to classify emergency cesarean sections in 2000 (7). This tool is based on medical indications identified by Lucas et al. and comprises three color coded categories (3,8):
-          Green: Non-urgent cesarean section with a decision-delivery interval ≤1 hour. -          Orange: Urgent cesarean section with a decision-delivery interval ≤30 minutes. -          Red: Cesarean section to be performed in extreme emergency with a decision-delivery ≤15 minutes.
The aim of this study was to evaluate compliance with the color coded protocol in terms of indication and decision-delivery intervals since its implementation in our maternity ward in 2014, and its impact on maternal and fetal outcomes.