Obstetric Anesthesia Workforce Survey: Forty-year Update

For 40 yr, Obstetric Anesthesia Workforce Surveys have been used every decade to assess trends in obstetric anesthesia practice and potential areas for improvement. Anesthesia providers from U.S. hospitals were surveyed in 2022 to 2023 to provide data for their hospitals from 2021. The primary hypothesis was that obstetric anesthesia services have changed in the last decade.

Previous workforce surveys were used to develop the 32-question survey about contemporary obstetric anesthesia practice. A hospital sample (n = 1,180) was generated based on number of births per year and U.S. census region. Using web-push survey methodology, a QR code was assigned to the "Chief of Anesthesiology" at each hospital. A link to an online Research Electron Data Capture survey was emailed to individuals along with reminder communications. Nonresponding hospitals received paper surveys and self-addressed stamped envelopes for survey return. The results were analyzed using R statistical package at a significance level of P < 0.05.

There were 284 (24%) responses to the survey. Hospitals providing obstetric care have decreased 50% over four decades. Of all the respondents, 77% work in nonacademic hospitals without residency programs. Comparing academic to nonacademic hospitals, academic providers are less likely to have other clinical responsibilities: 35% versus 62%, respectively. The weighted overall rate of neuraxial labor analgesia is 84%. Elective cesarean deliveries are usually performed with spinal anesthesia (85%). Neuraxial anesthesia is used in 86% of urgent cesareans, while 14% use general anesthesia.

Despite stable annual birth rates in the United States, the number of hospitals providing obstetric care decreased by 50% over the last 40 yr. This study describes nonacademic practice and not just academic teaching hospitals. Increased access to neuraxial labor analgesia is a dramatic step toward reducing in-hospital maternal mortality and improving healthcare disparities.