2026 SOAP Update

Since 1968, SOAP has been dedicated to the health of pregnant patients and their newborns. Now, more than ever, this focus is critical to the future of our community. We are excited to present this 2026 update on SOAP activities. At this pivotal moment in SOAP's evolution, our commitment to knowledge creation, equity, and global collaboration has never been more essential, and our members' collective energy is shaping a new era for obstetric anesthesiology. As we expand our digital footprint, strengthen research networks, and elevate standards of care worldwide, SOAP continues to define the future of safe, equitable maternal care through innovation, partnership, and purpose.Figure: Current SOAP membership numbers.Our community With more than 2,100 members who provide maternal and newborn care globally, SOAP has created a network of individuals committed to improving maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Partnering with stakeholders, collaborating with colleagues, sharing perspectives, connecting with patients, and learning and growing are nuclear member pursuits that promote well-being, professional development, diversity and inclusion, and clinical excellence. Our society's members are steadfast, volunteering their time through committee and subcommittee engagement to guide and deliver programs, initiatives, and work products. SOAP's many initiatives nourish and foster personal and professional interests and provide opportunities to network. Launched in 2022, SOAP has expanded our Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to include 15 member-initiated and member-led informal communities to share knowledge and discuss areas of focus within obstetric anesthesia, including: Anesthesiologist Assistants, Cardio-Obstetrics, Environmental Sustainability on the Labor and Delivery Unit, Fetal Surgery, Informatics, Maternal Health Inequities, Maternal Mental Health and Birth Trauma, Medical Student and Resident, Obstetric Anesthesia Physician Wellness, OB Critical Care Management, Placenta Accreta, Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS), Private Practice, Recovery after Childbirth, and Simulation. Over the past two years, we have seen a 31% increase in participation in this complimentary offering for SOAP members. Proposals for additional SIGs continue to be submitted, demonstrating the importance of these group interactions for our members. The triannual SOAP Newsletter highlights the diverse and comprehensive perspectives of anesthesiologists and health care professionals as we grow, work, and live. Publications feature member-submitted articles that range from clinical content and research studies to personal creative writing and poetry, reflecting the breadth and depth of our members. In addition, the newsletter aims to enhance the value of membership through societal and intersocietal updates. SOAP's influence continues to expand well beyond North America as we deepen partnerships that advance maternal health worldwide. Through our developing partnership with the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) and their Obstetric Anaesthesia Committee, SOAP members are helping shape global standards. International engagement in SOAP's programs, research initiatives, and educational offerings continues to grow, and we are actively supporting centers seeking designation as international SOAP Centers of Excellence. These partnerships reflect our commitment to building a global community of clinicians and researchers united by a shared goal: delivering safe, equitable, high-quality obstetric anesthesia care for every patient, everywhere. Commitment to education SOAP's year-round educational offerings are designed for all health care professionals providing care to the pregnant patient at every stage of their career: anesthesiologists, CRNAs, certified anesthesiologist assistants (CAAs), obstetricians, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, midwives, and more. The offering of virtual content, cataloged in our SOAP Learning Center, has allowed us to serve our members in more flexible ways wherever they may be located geographically. Le Westin Downtown Hotel, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, will host the SOAP 2026 Annual Meeting, April 29-May 3. Centered on the theme, “From Discovery to Delivery: Bridging Research and Clinical Care in Obstetric Anesthesia,” it will focus on bridging the gap between scientific innovation and bedside application, which requires collaboration among researchers, clinicians, and educators to ensure that emerging evidence is effectively integrated into practice. Highlighting cutting-edge research, evidence-based implementation strategies, and real-world clinical applications through shared dialogue and multidisciplinary engagement, the meeting aims to accelerate the movement of research from bench to bedside. This classic learning and networking event for all those who practice in or adjacent to obstetric anesthesia teams promises to be a transformative, inclusive, and high-yield experience. SOAP Fundamentals debuted in early 2023 and was such a success that we are continuing the program in the fall of 2026. The Fundamentals program is virtual, allowing for easy and affordable access to refresher content of best practices in obstetric anesthesiology. The content focuses on providing obstetric anesthesia knowledge to members of the entire health care team, which may include obstetricians, midwives, and labor nurses, in addition to anesthesiologists, CRNAs, and other health care professionals. Driven by popular demand, monthly 2024 educational content for members is available in a variety of disciplines and formats: SOAP has collaborated with C8 Health on an application designed to share educational resources and content, including topics on maternal health, teamwork and communication, POCUS, infographics for patients and health care professionals, clinical practice FAQs, practice-changing research studies, and more. SOAP continues to evolve, meeting its members' needs and requests by providing easily accessible resources through novel technology. Our traditional educational programs continue to appeal to members of all disciplines and career phases: The Conferences in Obstetrical Point of Care Ultrasound (COPUS) Case Series is intended to improve participants' ability to interpret ultrasound images and incorporate findings with the clinical condition of the obstetric patient. The Point-of-Care Ultrasound E-learning Series (POCUS) presents a quarterly case-based lesson on concepts ranging from basic ultrasound principles to image acquisition techniques and discussion of specific pathologies. Our Research Journal Club is an interactive virtual event designed to showcase an insightful, stimulating, clinically relevant research article. The article author presents the framework and context, detailing their research methods and findings. This interactive virtual event offers a unique perspective, highlighting the author's journey on the research project. The Fellows Webinar Series is a virtual learning opportunity that primarily targets fellows in obstetric anesthesiology. Lectures are available online for all, cataloged for ongoing reference. The Simulation of the Month (SIMOM) is designed for multidisciplinary obstetric team training in your simulation lab or in-situ on your labor and delivery unit. Scenarios include supportive material for pre-briefing, debriefing, and feedback. Commitment to professional and leadership development SOAP continues to develop new and exciting opportunities to support our members as they advance their careers: Instituted in 2024, SOAP Speaks! is a database of enthusiastic and engaging speakers arranged to connect curriculum developers, institutions, and societies with SOAP members equipped with the expertise and interest in a variety of relevant obstetric anesthesia topics. To date, 25 speakers have applied to be in the database, with 29 individuals/institutions having accessed and requested speakers. The SOAP Mentoring Academy debuted its Mentor/Mentee Matching Program in 2023, allowing for members to participate in a pairing based on their skills: clinical teaching, research, grant funding, leadership, quality improvement, and more. There were eight successful member pairs in the 2025 matching cycle. Commitment to our patients As the principal voice of obstetric anesthesia, a component of SOAP's mission is to educate our patients. In December 2024, a patient-facing educational website called thepainlesspush.com was launched. While social media has changed the way we share and receive information, it does not come without the occurrence of misinformation and misperceptions. This patient-facing website will be the ultimate guide for patients and families, providing educational information, answering frequently asked questions, suggesting discussion points for your health care professional, and more. The website is fully translatable into a multitude of languages. The most commonly requested information is currently available in English and Spanish at a sixth-grade reading level in brochures for patients without access to the internet. As a complement to the website, a patient-focused podcast of the same name, The Painless Push, is available on Spotify (thepainlesspush.com). The podcast features SOAP members focusing on frequently asked patient questions and educational information. Commitment to multidisciplinary care and collaboration SOAP is leveraging the expertise of its members for our multispecialty colleagues and teams. Consensus Statements are one of the most accessed resources that SOAP offers. In our endeavor to enhance collaboration, we have streamlined and clarified the process via our online Consensus/Collaboration Form to allow representatives from other medical organizations to express interest in a partnership for statements, guidelines, or research (asamonitor.pub/4qKZ16A). SOAP recognizes the presence of excellence in obstetric anesthesia care worldwide among many types of facilities with varying delivery volumes and resources through designation as a SOAP Center of Excellence. Applications are currently under review, and recertifications and new designations will be announced at the 2026 SOAP Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The SOAP State Representatives Program identifies obstetric anesthesiology stakeholders and leaders in each U.S. state, creating a network of subspecialists to expand the impact of our vision: safe and equitable care for women and newborns everywhere. Check out the interactive state map on our website to obtain contact information for your state representative and an obstetric anesthesiology expert representing our field on the State Maternal Mortality Review Committee (asamonitor.pub/3LcieiD). Commitment to diversity SOAP is committed to diversity and inclusivity throughout our organization. The SOAP Diversity and Inclusivity Committee and its action-oriented subcommittees aim to continually assess the degree of diversity and inclusivity within our organization to guide ongoing initiatives; create an environment for equal opportunity for all members to succeed and be heard; support scholarship, research, and education that addresses inequities in peripartum care; share resources for individuals and institutions to advance diversity and inclusivity; and establish partnerships and support policies that address racial and ethnic disparities in pregnancy-related outcomes. As part of leadership training, the SOAP Board of Directors and our committee and subcommittee members complete diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) modules. Modules focus on diversity and inclusivity within our own organization as well as in the obstetric anesthesia health care team and institutions. Our Diversity & Inclusivity Mentored Grant was awarded to mentor/mentee pairs with DEI-centered research, education, or professional development projects. Our most recent awardees were: Jordan A. Francke, MD, MPH, and Sebastian M. Seifert, MD Harvard University/Brigham and Women's Hospital Research: Identifying timepoints of critical communication breakdown in the care of obstetric patients with limited English proficiency: A cross-sectional cohort study. Commitment to research Since 2022, the Research Network Symposium provides a forum for SOAP members to present research proposals to SOAP's network of experts. Constructive feedback on rigor, relevance, methodology, ethics, feasibility, and fundability of research ideas is shared, and potential project collaborators are identified. The forum gathers biannually at the SOAP Annual Meeting and at the ASA annual meeting. SOAP was originally founded with knowledge creation as its primary focus. In 2023, we streamlined the process to request access to SOAP members for research projects with an online request form. In 2024, we have further expanded this resource by adding the ability to access data from the consenting SOAP Centers of Excellence designees. Launched in 2023, in partnership with the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER), SOAP is thrilled to offer a joint SOAP-FAER Mentored Research Training Grant (MRTG) to foster the development of obstetric anesthesiology and perinatology physician-investigators at the forefront of knowledge creation. This $250,000 award, disbursed over two years, aims to support anesthesiologists interested in a career as an independent scientist. 2023 Recipient: Dr. Andrea Ibarra of Pittsburgh Medical Center, for her project “Longitudinal Cognitive Evaluation Before and After Delivery Among Women with Preeclampsia.” 2025 Recipient: Dr. Brittany Burton of University of California, Los Angeles, for her project “Determinants of Health and Machine Learning for Healthcare Utilization in Obstetric Care.” 2025 Endowment Fund Campaign The SOAP Endowment Fund Campaign aims to achieve the vision of safe and equitable care for women and newborns everywhere based on the highest caliber science. The campaign seeks to build a sustainable funding source for advancing obstetric anesthesia knowledge, defining the value of obstetric anesthesia expertise, and sharing that expertise directly with patients and multidisciplinary colleagues. Campaign funds will be invested, and the in-perpetuity proceeds used in three focus areas: 1) individual-led research, 2) society-led research, and 3) patient-facing education. This is the first Endowment Fund Campaign in SOAP's history. As part of our commitment to the SOAP Endowment Fund, we held our first fundraising event, “Party with a Purpose,” in conjunction with the SOAP 2025 Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. The event featured a pre-event online auction as well as in-person activities at the annual meeting. We are delighted to continue this new tradition at the 2026 Annual Meeting in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and hope to have you join us to celebrate. It is an honor to serve the members of SOAP and a privilege to care for our obstetric patients and their families. As we look to 2026 and beyond, SOAP stands ready to lead with vision, courage, and collaboration. I invite you to join us – through participation, philanthropy, research, and mentorship – as we continue to define and advance the field of obstetric anesthesiology. Together, we can transform care for pregnant patients and families everywhere. Disclosure: Dr. George is a board member of the Canadian Anesthesia Research Foundation, an Associate Editor of the Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, and an Editor of the International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia.Ronald B. George, MD, FRCPC, President, Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology, and Professor and Director of Obstetric Anesthesia, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. @Ron_GeorgeMegan Rosenstein, MD, MBA, FASA, Chair, Member Value Committee, Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology, Director of Obstetric Anesthesia, and Associate Chief Medical Officer, NAPA - Atlantic Health Overlook Medical Center, Summit, New Jersey.David L. Stahl, MD, FASA, Chair, Education Committee, Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology, Clinical Professor, and Division Chief of Critical Care, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California. @DoctorStahl