The mucosae are more vascular and oedematous during pregnancy. This can subtly alter the appearances seen at laryngoscopy, and contributes to difficulty with intubation.

Intubation is often more difficult in obstetrics than in non-obstetric practice, and the incidence of failed intubation is greater.

The increased vascularity of the muscosae causes other problems: nasal intubation, nasogastric tubes and even suction to the nares can all cause serious haemorrhage, and should be avoided in pregnancy if at all possible.