Medical problems

Ask about:

• Cardiovascular, e.g. congenital heart disease, arrhythmias
• Respiratory, e.g. severe asthma, chronic cough, tuberculosis
• Neurological, e.g. epilepsy
• Diabetes
• Infectious diseases, e.g. HIV, hepatitis

Medication

Ask about:

• Medications that the patient is taking, both prescribed and non-prescribed
• Anticoagulants
• Allergies, particularly drug and latex allergies

Anaesthetic

Ask:

• Has the patient had a previous anaesthetic?
• Were there any problems?
• If the patient has never had an anaesthetic, enquire about a family history of problems (thinking particularly about suxamethonium apnoea and malignant hyperpyrexia)
• Has the patient ever had a spinal/epidural anaesthetic?
• Were there any difficulties performing the spinal/epidural?
• Did the spinal/epidural work well?

Obstetric

Ask:

• How many previous pregnancies has the patient had?
• Has she had any previous deliveries?
• About previous deliveries:
  • How was the baby delivered?
  • Were there any problems during or after labour?
  • Did she have any anaesthetic intervention during labour or delivery?

Additional questions

Ask about:

• Pre-eclampsia
• History of back problems
• Gravida parity
• Information from previous deliveries
• Previous labour epidural
• Previous spinal anaesthesia
• Previous airway difficulties