Obstetric Anaesthesia
The John Radcliffe Hospital Women's Centre delivers several thousand babies each year.
You can see our most recent statistics here:
About us
Clinicians provide a consultant-led Obstetric Anaesthesia Service.
From Monday to Friday there are consultant sessions each morning and afternoon on Delivery Suite and there is a daily elective caesarean section list.
Additional consultant sessions cover the weekly high-risk, cardiac and pre-caesarean assessment clinics.
Out of hours, the Delivery Suite is staffed by a dedicated Anaesthetic Trainee, and there is a separate consultant on-call rota for obstetric anaesthesia.
The large amount of clinical material provides excellent opportunities for research, audit teaching and training.
The Oxford unit is a regional referral centre for high-risk and complicated pregnancy and has an international reputation for the management of hypertension.
The unit is also a referral a centre for the management of cases of abnormally invasive placenta.
A multidisciplinary approach to management of all high-risk cases is encouraged and there are therefore many requests for antenatal anaesthetic assessment.
There is a weekly multidisciplinary meeting for discussion of high-risk cases. Each month there is an obstetric anaesthetic governance meeting at which interesting cases are presented.
All first year Specialist Registrars in Oxford are allocated to a three-month unit of modular training in obstetric anaesthesia.
In addition, Senior Trainees in the Oxford Deanery may apply for a six-month advanced training module in obstetric anaesthesia.
There are a number of Fellowship posts available. Successful applicants join the resident rota and are encouraged to take an active role in teaching, research, audit and quality improvement projects and management.
Contact us
Dr Desi Choi
Head of Obstetric Anaesthesia
Email: desi.choi@ouh.nhs.uk
Last reviewed:16 January 2024