Clinical
Subspecialties:
Obstetric Anesthesia
The section
of Obstetric Anesthesia in the Department of Anesthesiology at
Loyola University Medical Center offers its dedicated service
to obstetric patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Located
in the Russo Pavilion the Labor and Delivery Suite has seven birthing
rooms, six critical care beds and two operating rooms, all equipped
with sophisticated state-of- the-art monitors, amenities and best
of all, experienced, compassionate and friendly healthcare providers.
Loyola obstetric service is specialized in both normal and high-risk
pregnancies. Obstetric anesthesia care providers work collaborately
with their obstetric colleagues to provide the best optimum care
to these parturients. The total number of deliveries at Loyola
is more than 1,500 per year. Obstetric Anesthesia is provided
in the care of approximately 80-90% of these patients, in an array
of typical labor epidural or combined spinal- epidural analgesia for vaginal deliveries in normal parturients
and complex anesthetic care in complicated high-risk obstetric
patients, such as those with pre-eclampsia/eclampsia, cardiac
disease or multiple gestations. A high-risk parturient can be
referred in advance by her obstetrician for an obstetric anesthesia
consult as part of multi disciplinary approach. In addition, an
obstetric anesthesia faculty member regularly attends the scheduled
educational birthing classes for expecting mothers and their spouses,
in order to educate them about labor analgesia through video presentation
and interactive question/answer sessions. Furthermore, once admitted
onto the Labor and Delivery suite, the patient is visited by obstetric
anesthesia staff and has an opportunity to discuss about the options
for labor analgesia and anesthetic care. This care can be tailored
by the individual patient's desires and needs.
In summary,
with the state-of-the-art facility, latest medical advances and
the expertise of our faculty and staff, Loyola Obstetric Anesthesia
offers a complete anesthetic care for both normal parturients
and most complex high-risk parturients.
