查看文章

Background: A raised BMI increases obstetric and anaesthetic intervention [1], can make regional anaesthesia more difficult and increases the risks of general anaesthesia. We use an antenatal assessment to explain the risks associated with obesity in pregnancy and encourage earlier use of regional analgesia, aiming to reduce the requirement for new anaesthetic interventions at the time of urgent caesarean delivery.

Methods: All primiparae with a booking BMI of 35 who had an antenatal anaesthetic assessment between January 2005 and September 2006 were identified using our obstetric anaesthetic database. Mode of delivery, use of epidural analgesia, and anaesthetic technique used for caesarean delivery was recorded. This was compared to a control group of primiparae matched for age, completed gestation and induction of labour.

Results: 80 obese and 80 controls were reviewed. A high BMI was …