This Obstetrics Unit has a dedicated staff anaesthesiologist who is physically present 24 hours a day. Anaesthesia coverage is provided by an anaesthesiologist responsible for labour and delivery (08.00 – 15.00 hours) and an anaesthesiologist on duty (15.00h – 08.00 h). The anaesthesiologist working at the obstetrics unit is responsible for:

• Verifying that all preoperative tests have been performed and if they have not, to perform any required or missing preoperative tests, as established by the anaesthesiology protocol in force at the Obstetrics Unit.
• Obtaining the patient´s Informed Consent Form (ICF)
• To attend to the needs of the labouring woman (analgesia and medical status)
• Basic resuscitation of the neonate
• To attend the patient in case a postpartum complication arises that might alter haemodynamic stability (for instance, uterine atony)
• To attend programmed surgery or emergency obstetric surgery (caesarean sections, uterine curettage, o cerclage) in the operating theatre located in this surgical area.

In 2005, 2,123 deliveries were attended in this area, of which 663 were abdominal deliveries and 1,460 vaginal deliveries, which represents approximately 31% C-sections. Of the 663 C-sections, 422 were mandatory and 241 were elective procedures.

The anaesthetic technique used for vaginal deliveries was an epidural block in continuous perfusion with Ropivacaine at 0.2% and Fentanyl at 0.0001% in nearly 97% of cases; the remaining patients received either an intradural block (imminent delivery) or an endovenous perfusion with Remifentanyl (absolute contraindication to epidural block).