The safety of cell salvage in obstetrics has been questioned because of the presumed risk of precipitating amniotic fluid embolism and, to a lesser extent, maternal alloimmunisation. For these reasons, experience in this field is limited and has lagged far behind that in other surgical specialties. There has, however, been renewed interest in its use over recent years, mainly as a result of problems associated with allogeneic blood transfusion. Our aim was to review the medical literature to ascertain the principles of cell salvage, the ability of the process to remove contaminants, and its safety profile in the obstetric setting. The search engines PubMed and Google Scholar were used and relevant articles and websites hand searched for further references. Existing cell salvage systems differ in their ability to clear contaminants and all require the addition of a leucocyte depletion filter. Although large prospective trials of cell salvage with autotransfusion in obstetrics are lacking, to date, no single serious complication leading to poor maternal outcome has been directly attributed to its use. Cell salvage in obstetrics has been endorsed by several bodies based on current evidence. Current evidence supports the use of cell salvage in obstetrics, which is likely to become increasingly commonplace, but more data are required concerning its clinical use.