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 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. In 2024, RRUMC received the honor as a Center of Excellence for Obstetric Anesthesiology by Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology. You can learn more about this distinct honor in this news story linked here.

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
Associate Clinical Professor

Tina Yu, MD
Program Director, Obstetric Anesthesiology Fellowship
Assistant Clinical Professor

Jason G. Hirsch, MD
Medical Director, Santa Monica UCLA Obstetric Anesthesiology
Associate Clinical Professor

Joe C. Hong, MD
Executive Vice Chair
Clinical Professor

Richard Hong, MD, FASA
Clinical Professor

Judi A. Turner, MD, PhD
Vice Chair of Education
Clinical Professor

Cristianna Vallera, MD
Associate Clinical Professor

Brittany Burton, MD, MAS, MHS
Assistant Clinical Professor

Jonathan Dahan, MD
Assistant Clinical Professor