The "What's New in Obstetric Anesthesia Lecture" is presented every year at the annual meeting of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology. This lecture was established in 1975 to update the membership on the most relevant articles that were published in the preceding calendar year. In 1995, the lecture was renamed as the "Ostheimer Lecture" in honor of Gerard W. Ostheimer, an obstetric anesthesiologist from the Brigham and Women's Hospital with significant contributions in the field. This review summarizes key articles published in 2017 that were presented in the 2018 Ostheimer Lecture with a focus on opioid prescriptions, anesthesia for external cephalic version, labor analgesia, maternal morbidity, and global health. A proposed list of action items based on the 2017 literature is also presented.