Newborns Stanford University Department of Anesthesia S tanford University anesthesiologists from the Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital provide analgesia and anesthesia to the 5,500 women delivering in the Johnson Center for Pregnancy and the Newborn. Special expertise in obstetric anesthesia is offered by the anesthesiologists in the Division of Obstetric Anesthesia, who are involved in the management of high risk pregnancies and are available for pre-delivery consultation. Staff anesthesiologists are available in the hospital 24 hours a day to provide care for obstetric patients. The philosophy of the department is oriented towards offering pregnant women choices regarding pain relief during labor, and to making the labor experience as natural and normal as possible. Regional techniques are emphasized so that mothers can be awake and alert to participate in the births of their babies.
Many women can walk or sit in a chair after they have received epidural analgesia.
If cesarean section proves necessary, postoperative pain relief is provided with special techniques that minimize drug dosage and enable the mother to become mobile more quickly and nurse and care for her baby. More information is provided about pain relief options at a monthly class for parents held on one Tuesday each month. Clinical research studies in obstetrical anesthesia performed at Stanford have resulted in many advances in obstetric anesthesia and improvements in the safety of pain relief techniques.