This new edition of an acclaimed text reviews the evidence for best practice in obstetric medicine, to present the reader with the right information, with appropriate use of proven interventions and avoidance of ineffectual or harmful ones, and by rating the evidence of the key references. The information is presented in the right format by summarizing evidence succinctly and clearly in tables and algorithms. The aim is to inform the clinician, to reduce errors and “to make it easy to do it right.”

The goals of this book are to summarize the best evidence available in the obstetrics and maternal-fetal medicine literature, and make the results of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses of RCTs easily accessible to guide clinical care. The intent is to bridge the gap between knowledge (the evidence) and its easy application. To reach these goals, we reviewed all trials on effectiveness of interventions in obstetrics. Millions of pregnant women have participated in thousands of properly conducted RCTs. The efforts and sacrice of mothers and their fetuses for science should be recognized at least by the physicians’ awareness and understanding of these studies. Some of the trials have been summarized in over 600 Cochrane reviews, with hundreds of other meta-analyses also published in obstetrical topics (Table 1). All of the Cochrane reviews, as well as other meta-analyses and trials in obstetrics and maternal-fetal medicine, were reviewed and referenced.

Features

features concise and summary reviews on practical topics

includes management algorithms for clarity

grades bibliographic items for their level of evidence

is an excellent revision guide for those studying for board examinations

Contents

۱. Preconception care
۲. Prenatal care
۳. Physiologic changes
۴. Ultrasound
۵. Prenatal diagnosis and screening for aneuploidy
۶. Carrier screening for inherited genetic conditions
۷. Before labor and first stage of labor
۸. Second stage of labor
۹. Third stage of labor
۱۰. Intrapartum fetal monitoring
۱۱. Analgesia and anesthesia
۱۲. Operative vaginal delivery
۱۳. Cesarean delivery
۱۴. Trial of labor after caesarean delivery
۱۵. Early pregnancy loss
۱۶. Recurrent pregnancy loss
۱۷. Preterm birth prevention in asymptomatic women
۱۸. Preterm labor
۱۹. Preterm premature rupture of membranes
۲۰. Premature rupture of membranes at or near term
۲۱. Induction of labor
۲۲. Intra-amniotic infection
۲۳. Meconium
۲۴. Malpresentation and malposition
۲۵. Shoulder dystocia
۲۶. Postpartum hemorrhage, retained placenta, and uterine inversion
۲۷. Late-term and postterm pregnancies
۲۸. Placental disorders
۲۹. Abruptio placentae
۳۰. Postpartum care
۳۱. The neonate
۳۲. The adnexal mass
۳۳. Cervical cancer screening and management in pregnancy