What are my anesthetic options for a cesarean delivery (c-section)?

Your anesthetic options will depend on the indications for the cesarean birth. During emergency situations requiring the immediate delivery of your baby, general anesthesia may be necessary. 

For less urgent or elective, scheduled c-sections, spinal anesthesia blocks are often used. If you already have an epidural catheter that was previously placed for labor analgesia, stronger medications can be injected through the catheter to achieve surgical anesthesia.