It has been almost ten years since the first edition of Obstetric Anesthesia and Uncommon Disorders was published. Over the past few years colleagues have asked the editors when they could expect to see a new edition. We had some hesitation, not least of which was because we felt that many practioners could find most of this information for themselves using the internet or subspecialty journals. Upon reflection, we recognized that there is no substitute for a textbook that contains information gathered and carefully reviewed by a number of devoted specialists. Hence, spurred on by those requests for a second edition it was decided to create a revision that provides more recent references and reflects some of the changes in obstetric anesthesia practice that have occurred over the past ten years. With the assistance of a third editor, Robert S. F. McKay, we recruited some outstanding new contributors from around the world and created a second edition that we trust the reader will find useful. We have continued to use chapters based on body systems and diseases. We have consolidated some chapters, split others, and added two new chapters, namely ‘Chronic pain in pregnancy’ and ‘Malignancy and pregnancy’. There are now 23 chapters each illustrated with figures, tables, and photographs, and each chapter is accompanied by a comprehensive list of updated references.