Author: Dr Kirsty Maclennan, RCoA Council Member; Committee Member, Obstetric Anaesthetists’ Association

Each year, more than 700,000 babies are born in UK hospitals, with anaesthetists involved in approximately 60% of these births. Anaesthesia is therefore integral to modern maternity care, yet national data on its use remain limited.

This knowledge gap has prompted collaborative efforts to establish a standardised framework for recording and evaluating obstetric anaesthetic practice. Alongside this, recent national reports and investigations continue to highlight the importance of safe maternity and neonatal care, underscoring the role of anaesthetists within multidisciplinary teams. In this article, we review each initiative and identify what they seek to achieve.

Establishing the OAS

The Obstetric Anaesthetists’ Association (OAA) and the Professional Record Standards Body, in collaboration with the RCoA and the Association of Anaesthetists, are developing the Obstetric Anaesthetic Standard (OAS). This initiative will define the minimum dataset required to monitor quality outcomes, improve patient care, and inform evidence-based policy. Crucially, the OAS will recommend how data can be routinely collected through electronic patient records and integrated into national maternity datasets. By embedding anaesthetic information within wider maternity records, the OAS seeks to ensure that anaesthesia services are visible and measurable at a national level.