This article is intended for readers seeking an update on current obstetric analgesic/anesthetic techniques, and selected problems and controversies currently of interest to those committed to improving their ability to provide safe and effective maternal analgesia and anesthesia for labor, vaginal and instrumental delivery, and related obstetric procedures. It is assumed that the reader has familiarity with fundamental obstetric anesthetic techniques and principles.

Practitioners who provide obstetric anesthesia should be familiar with several important recently published documents. The most recent standards for obstetric anesthesia care are included in a joint statement from the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, approved in 1998, entitled “Optimal Goals for Anesthesia Care in Obstetrics,” and in the ASA's “Guidelines for Regional Anesthesia in Obstetrics,” last amended in 1991. These may be obtained from the ASA directly or via standards. Another important document is the report prepared by the ASA Task Force on Obstetrical Anesthesia, entitled “Practice Guidelines for Obstetrical Anesthesia.”<sup>46 Hawkins J.L., Arens J.F., Bucklin B.A. , y al. Practice guidelines for obstetrical anesthesia: A report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists task force on obstetrical anesthesia Anesthesiology 1999 ;  90 : 600

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