Data on UK obstetric anaesthetic practice between 2009 and 2014 were collected by the Obstetric Anaesthetists' Association's National Obstetric Anaesthetic Database. This database provides information on workload, variation in practice, and complication rates.

During 2009–14, data were submitted by 190 UK hospitals. The number of hospitals that submitted data each year ranged between 114 and 145.

During this 6 yr period, between 27 and 35 data items were requested, although not all hospitals submitted information on all data items.

The dataset was assessed for quality and only those data items with acceptable quality were analysed.