Execution of analgesia and anesthesia procedures in obstetrics : Second revised recommendations of the German Society for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and the Professional Association of German Anesthetists in cooperation with the German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics

While guidelines represent systematically developed aids for decision-making on appropriate courses of action, recommendations should focus the attention of the medical profession on noteworthy circumstances which are in need of amendment. The new recommendations on the "Execution of analgesia and anesthesia procedures in obstetrics" of the German Society for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Anästhesiologie und Intensivmedizin, DGAI) and the Professional Association of German Anesthetists (Berufsverband Deutscher Anästhesisten, BDA) in cooperation with the German Society for Gynecology and Obstetrics (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gynäkologie und Geburtshilfe, DGGG) comprehensively fulfill these requirements. The new recommendations include not only revisions in the form of updating but also supplementations in the form of the new chapters "Initial care of newborns", "Postpartum hemorrhaging" and "Morbid obesity". In the following article relevant alterations to newly formulated or completely amended sections with consequences for the clinical practice will be discussed.