Obstetric Anesthesia at Mass General
In This Article
- The Obstetric Anesthesia team at Massachusetts General Hospital provides expert care for pregnant patients, including high-risk pregnancies and complex obstetric conditions
- The team is actively engaged in research and contributes to the specialty on a national level through lectures, publications, and professional societies
- Throughout 2022, the Mass General Obstetric Anesthesia team celebrated multiple accomplishments that have been compiled into an in-depth annual report
The Obstetric Anesthesia team at Massachusetts General Hospital provides expert care for pregnant patients, including those with high-risk pregnancies and complex obstetric conditions. In addition to administering pain-relieving epidurals to patients in labor, the team provides emergency care for pregnant patients and babies, such as treating unexpected bleeding and providing anesthetics that help patients safely deliver a baby in distress via a Cesarean birth.
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Our staff is actively engaged in research and contributes to our specialty nationally through lectures, publications, and professional societies, including the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP). This diversity of talent, experience, and scope of influence enhances the academic and clinical missions of the division.
2022 Highlights and Accomplishments
Improving Care for Pregnant Patients (NTSV, hemorrhage management, racial/ethnic bias reduction)—The multidisciplinary team continues to integrate and prioritize quality and safety into our daily work. They actively review cases through the Perinatal Quality Assurance program and have weekly meetings with the L&D, antepartum, and postpartum leadership groups. Quality care metrics are reviewed with a focus on anesthesia care contributions.
Staffing and Oversight of the IVF Service—The team will soon launch a service that provides staffing and oversight of the IVF service line, bringing consistency to the REI teams regarding anesthesia providers and clinical care. Planning of key quality improvement projects and a shared research agenda will soon be underway, which will be key goals for developing the IVF service.
Neonatal and Maternal Warming Initiative—The team has joined the Neonatal ICU leadership to advance warming initiatives in the operating room to prevent neonatal hypothermia during Cesarean deliveries. Other important changes include documenting maternal temperature as a potential source of pre-delivery "cooling," ensuring the OR temperature remains at goal for delivery, actively warming mothers using underbody convection warmers, and using wall-mounted fluid warming devices.
View our 2022 Annual Report
Learn more about our anesthesia research programs, recent publications, and well-awarded grants in 2022