OB Anesthesia

The Anesthesia Department at Allegheny General provides obstetrical services 24 hours a day. There is continuous anesthesia presence on the obstetrical floor whenever any patient is in active labor and has an epidural in place. Each year, there are approximately 1400 deliveries and over 85% of these women receive an anesthetic.

At AGH, the anesthesiologists try to visit all parturients early in labor. This is an informational visit to try to identify potential maternal anesthetic problems as well as to provide information to the woman. There is no charge for this consult.

The overriding goals are to provide a safe labor and delivery experience for mother and baby. Comfort is also important. Toward that end, services provided include epidural analgesia for labor and delivery, whether vaginal or Cesarean; spinal anesthesia for cesarean section and general anesthesia for emergency cesarean section. There is an operating room specifically reserved for emergency deliveries directly adjacent to the delivery suite. As a referral center for high risk pregnancy, the AGH Anesthesia Department is accustomed to providing anesthesia for a wide variety of maternal and fetal emergencies.