Anesthesia for obstetrics is one of the highest volume areas in anesthesiology. It is an area with a small subspecialty society (SOAP), and an area in which general anesthesiologists without subspecialty training continue to work in large numbers. As the number of caesarean section has increased, and the age of mothers in the US and Europe has increased and with it the potential for complications during birth, the role of anesthesiologists in the delivery room has become increasingly important. Shnider and Levinson's Anesthesia for Obstetrics is one of the two primary textbooks that have guided the field through its development, the other being Dave Chestnut's book.