Artificial intelligence and decision support tools in obstetric anaesthesia: opportunities, challenges, future

Artificial intelligence (AI) usage in healthcare and deployed as part of clinical decision support tools have increased in recent years. This narrative review aims to highlight recent work and progress of AI in obstetric anaesthesia up till 2025. These AI applications range from preoperative counselling, labour analgesia advice, perioperative risk stratification, optimizing neuraxial techniques and dosages, and early detection systems that improve maternal and fetal care. Many challenges remain with AI, including lack of transparency, accuracy concerns, privacy risks, and difficulties with clinical integration. Addressing these limitations requires a commitment to ethical implementation that promotes AI's explainability. A key gap within the literature is the lack of integration of dynamic intrapartum obstetric variables within AI models and its lack of external validation in prospective multicentre trials. Overall, the progress of AI within obstetric anaesthesia will require multidisciplinary collaboration between clinicians, regulators, and developers to gain acceptance and trust when delivering patient-centric care.