General anaesthetic for women giving birth by caesarean section
Anaesthesia is used to relieve pain during a caesarean section, with almost all women who have a caesarean section receiving some type of anaesthesia. General anaesthetic is one method of administering anaesthesia for caesarean section and is most commonly indicated when the operation is urgent or when regional anaesthetics are contra-indicated or have failed. For more information, see Clinical commentary.
This indicator examines the proportion of women who received a general anaesthetic when giving birth by caesarean section.
Key findings
In 2023, around 1 in 20 (5.1%) women who had a caesarean section birth received a general anaesthetic.
This proportion:
- decreased from 8.2% in 2007 to 5.1% in 2023
- was highest for women younger than 20 (17% in 2023) compared with other age groups
- was higher for women living in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas than for women living in the least disadvantaged areas
- was higher for women giving birth in a public hospital than for women giving birth in a private hospital (6.5% compared with 2.0% in 2023).
The interactive data visualisation (Figure 11) presents data for women who had a general anaesthetic when giving birth by caesarean section. Use the drop-down menu to view data by selected characteristics and the latest year button to explore data for 2023.
Figure 11: General anaesthetic for women giving birth by caesarean section
This data visualisation presents data on general anaesthetic. Interactive charts show proportions for the most recent data and over time, for selected demographic and birth characteristics.
Clinical commentary
Regional anaesthesia (or epidural) is the most common method of providing anaesthesia for caesarean section (96%) (AIHW 2025). Regional anaesthesia is safer for mother and baby than general anaesthesia (NICE 2021). When general anaesthesia is used, the most common indications are urgency, maternal refusal of regional techniques, inadequate or failed regional attempts, and regional contraindications including coagulation or spinal abnormalities (Shroff et al. 2004). Obstetric indications, such as placenta praevia, were considered absolute indications for general anaesthesia, however, there are now indications that general anaesthesia may not be the only option (McGlennan and Mustafa 2009).
Indicator specifications and data
Excel source data tables are available from Data.
For more information, refer to Data specifications and Methods.
AIHW (2025) Australia’s mothers and babies, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 15 August 2025.
NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) (2021) Caesarean birth: NICE guideline 192, NICE, accessed 11 October 2021.
McGlennan A and Mustafa A (2009) ‘General anaesthetic for caesarean section’, Continuing Education in Anaesthesia Critical Care & Pain, 9(5):148–151, doi:10.1093/bjaceaccp/mkp025.
Shroff R, Thompson A, McCrum A and Rees S (2004) ‘Prospective multidisciplinary audit of obstetric general anaesthesia in a district general hospital’, Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 6:641–646, doi:10.1080/01443610400007877.