Obstetric Anesthesiology
The Division of Obstetric Anesthesiology includes faculty members who specialize in obstetric anesthesiology and to providing excellent obstetric anesthesiology care. UCLA anesthesiologists provide obstetric anesthesia services at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (RRUMC) in Westwood Village, at the Santa Monica - UCLA Medical Center, and at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH).
At the RRUMC, faculty members work in a multidisciplinary, collaborative, academic environment to educate UCLA anesthesiology residents and medical students. An attending anesthesiologist remains in the hospital around the clock to guide labor analgesia and handle emergencies.
We expect an annual volume of 1500-2000 births/year, including a wide variety of high-risk referral patients in need of care. The majority of laboring women receive labor epidurals from our service, but UCLA offers other pain management therapies for the labor and birth experience including nitrous oxide. We support each mother’s choices for pharmacologic and/or non-pharmacologic pain management.
For more information about our OB Anesthesia Fellowship, please click the link here: Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship
Physicians
Catherine M. Cha, MD
Chief, Division of Obstetric Anesthesiology
Assistant Clinical Professor
Fellowship-trained at Cedars Sinai
Lynn Choi, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor
Fellowship Program Director
Fellowship-trained at Brigham and Women's
Richard Hong, MD, FASA
Associate Clinical Professor
Chief of Obstetric Anesthesiology
Fellowship-trained at the University of Michigan
Jennifer M. Lucero, MD, MA
Associate Professor
Vice Chair for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Fellowship-trained at UCSF
Cristianna Vallera, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor
Medical Director of Obstetric Anesthesiology for Martin Luther King, Jr.
Fellowship-trained at Johns Hopkins