September 11, 1998 

Lisa Leffert, MD

With a record of 245 deliveries, August was the busiest month ever for the MGH Vincent Obstetrics Service. Keeping up with that pace requires the teamwork of many MGH staff. Among this team is a group of anesthesiologists who provide their distinctive brand of care to help patients have the best delivery experiences possible.

Marianna Crowley, MD, director of MGH OB Anesthesiology, says she considers it a privilege to be involved in a birth. "Once a woman chooses anesthesia, the challenge is to provide her with the most comfortable labor conditions we can give" she says, "while also keeping her and her baby safe."

The MGH OB Anesthesiology Division was born when the hospital established the Vincent Obstetrics Service nearly four years ago. The group of anesthesiologists who comprise the division make it their business to meet with each woman admitted to the service regardless of whether she decides to make anesthesia a part of her delivery.

Three quarters of the women admitted opt for anesthesia – which is given regionally through an epidural catheter or spinal injection to numb the nerves that feed the cervix and the uterus. About 80 percent of the births at the MGH are vaginal deliveries. The rest are Cesarean sections, both unplanned and elective.

For vaginal deliveries, women can choose natural childbirth with no anesthesia or have their pain controlled either by a narcotic, usually administered by a nurse, or a regional anesthetic.

Leah Wingardner, a 38-year-old patient cared for by anesthesiologist Lisa Leffert, MD, delivered healthy twins June 2 after an elective Cesarean. She compliments the MGH Anesthesiology staff for its superior ability in helping to ease her fears, which were heightened after an unpleasant Cesarean at another hospital four years earlier, when she gave birth to her first baby. At the MGH, she said she was completely involved in the birth and felt so well after surgery, she soon could hold and breastfeed her new twins. "The experience was truly enjoyable; I would have a baby at the MGH again," she said.

"One might not think of anesthesia as a chance to make a bond with a patient," Leffert says, "but it's a real opportunity to become a very important part of someone's life."