Diagnosis Clinical evaluation Exclusion of other causes Diagnosis of amniotic fluid embolism is suspected when the classic triad develops during labor or immediately after delivery: Sudden hypoxia Hypotension Coagulopathy Diagnosis of amniotic fluid embolism is clinical and by excluding other causes of the following: Sudden cardiac arrest in young women (eg, coronary artery dissection, congenital heart disease) Acute respiratory failure (pulmonary embolism, pneumonia) Coagulopathy (eg, sepsis, postpartum hemorrhage, uterine atony) Autopsy may detect fetal squamous cells and hair in the pulmonary circulation, but this finding does not confirm the diagnosis.