Could having general anesthesia just before conception be dangerous to my baby?

No: Medications used during anesthesia are out of your system very quickly. There would be no risk during pregnancy having anesthesia befor conception. Even during pregnancy anesthesia is sometimes required for various surgical emergencies.

Probably not: Most general anesthetic medications leave your system very quickly. None of the medications in general use today are known to cause birth defects. Certainly we would recommend waiting a few days after general anesthesia before you start trying to get pregnant, just to make sure all the drugs are out of your system. But if it happens, don't worry--chances are that your baby will be fine.

No: There is no verifiable evidence that anesthesia will decrease the ability to conceive a child. Naturally we would prefer that you had removed all the narcotics and other drugs from your body prior to this occurring, but this usually occurs within two or three days after the operation.