Abstract Neurologic complications of childbirth may be associated with neuraxial analgesia and anesthesia or may result from childbirth itself. Complications of neuraxial anesthesia may be immediate, such as an unexpectedly…
Abstract Psychiatric disorders occur commonly during pregnancy and can have significant effects on the mother, child, and family, and important economic costs to society. Suicide is a major cause of…
Abstract Cardiac disease is the leading cause of indirect maternal mortality. The optimal management of women with cardiovascular disease begins before conception. Normal physiologic changes of pregnancy and the peripartum…
Abstract The ideal labor analgesic technique is safe for both the mother and the infant, does not interfere with the progress of labor and delivery, and provides flexibility in response…
Abstract This chapter first addresses the medical, obstetric, and anesthetic considerations for diagnoses that cause anemia in pregnancy. The second half of the chapter reviews the coagulation cascade, the acquired…
Abstract Preterm delivery is defined as delivery before 37 weeks’ gestation. It occurs in 5% to 9% of pregnancies in developed countries and is responsible for 75% to 80% of…
Abstract The labor and delivery of a parturient with a multiple gestation and/or fetal breech presentation represents a major challenge for the obstetrician and the anesthesia provider. Anesthetic requirements may…
Abstract Although a dramatic decrease in the number of anesthesia-related deaths has been reported in the UK Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths over the past 40 years, complications from general…
Abstract Obstetric hemorrhage is the most common cause of maternal mortality worldwide, accounting for roughly 15% of maternal deaths. The World Health Organization estimates that severe hemorrhage complicates 10.5% of…
