Obstetric Anesthesiologists as Perioperative Physicians: Improving Peripartum Care and Patient Safety

The care of obstetric patients has become challenging due to the changing demographics of the pregnant population. Women with chronic diseases and congenital heart disease live to child-bearing age due to medical and surgical advances. Older and less healthy women become pregnant due to advances in reproductive technologies. Therefore, obstetric anesthesiologists have an increasingly important role in the peripartum period. In this article, we review the role of obstetric anesthesiologists in the antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum periods. The need for multidisciplinary care of high-risk parturients is discussed, including the role of anesthesiologists in the National Maternal Health Initiative to improve maternal morbidity and mortality. © 2015, Springer Science + Business Media New York.