Essential Obstetric Practice

Advances in research, knowledge and clinical practice in all branches of medicine have been rapid over the past decades and the speed is accelerating. Thus, as we enter the 1980s the pressure on specialists is to concentrate on ever-narrowing fields of their science. For the research worker this is desirable, but the practising clinician Our patient is a whole can have no clearly defined dividing lines. individual and every aspect of her makeup, physical and psychological, must always be taken fully into account. This is of vital importance in obstetrics and gynaecology. These two closely inter­ woven disciplines are branches of medical science in which emergency situations are not uncommon. Thus every practitioner, doctor, mid­ wife and nurse needs understanding of these subjects. Although tech­ nology advances rapidly, many basic principles remain the same. The chapters that follow deal with these, and modern trends in clinical management are discussed. For some decades the author has been in clinical charge of a matern­ ity hospital some 12 miles south of Central London. The hospital is a training school for obstetricians and midwives, and the local popula­ tion is adequately supplied with a general practitioner service. These circumstances are of some relevance because many views expressed are based on personal experience while others are based on countless books, articles, congresses and discussion with colleagues. To every source of information I express my thanks. Front Matter....Pages i-x Anatomy....Pages 1-23 Physiology....Pages 24-36 Amenorrhoea: the diagnosis and duration of pregnancy....Pages 37-45 Prenatal care....Pages 46-55 Blood testing and the anaemias of pregnancy....Pages 56-60 Urine analysis and its significance....Pages 61-71 The physiology of labour....Pages 72-85 The mechanisms of labour....Pages 86-92 The management of labour....Pages 93-104 Breech presentations....Pages 105-118 Face, brow and shoulder presentations....Pages 119-122 The umbilical cord: presentation and prolapse....Pages 123-126 Twins and multiple pregnancy....Pages 127-131 Pre-eclampsia....Pages 132-139 Eclampsia....Pages 140-144 Vomiting in pregnancy and hyperemesis gravidarum....Pages 145-147 Haemorrhages of pregnancy....Pages 148-166 Contracted pelvis and disproportion....Pages 167-175 Abnormal uterine action....Pages 176-182 The placenta and its functions: maturity and the at-risk fetus....Pages 183-192 Induction of labour....Pages 193-198 The puerperium....Pages 199-204 Puerperal pyrexia and infection....Pages 205-210 Thromboembolism....Pages 211-215 Heart disease, pulmonary tuberculosis and venereal diseases in pregnancy....Pages 216-228 The rhesus factor and haemolytic disease....Pages 229-232 The postnatal examination and family planning....Pages 233-243 The breasts....Pages 244-248 Back Matter....Pages 249-260