# Outline of obstetrics

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to obstetrics:
Obstetrics – medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy (prenatal period), childbirth and the postnatal period.

## What is obstetrics?

Obstetrics can be described as all of the following:
* Medicine – medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness in human beings.
** Medical specialty – branch of medical science. After completing medical school, physicians or surgeons usually further their medical education in a specific specialty of medicine by completing a multiple year residency to become a medical specialist.
* Academic discipline – In addition to being a medical specialty, obstetrics is the study of the reproductive process within the female body, including fertilization, pregnancy and childbirth.

## History of obstetrics

* Childbirth and obstetrics in antiquity

## Medical history

* Gravidity and parity

## Pregnancy and childbirth

* Pregnancy
* Childbirth

### Family planning

* Family planning
** Birth control
*** Contraception
** Pre-conception counseling

### Female reproductive anatomy

* Amniotic fluid
* Amniotic sac
** Amnion
* Cervix
* Endometrium
* Fallopian tube
* Ovaries
* Pelvis
** Pelvic bone width
* Placenta
* Uterus – Also called a womb.
* Vagina

### Conception

* Human fertilization
** Assisted reproductive technology
*** Artificial insemination
*** Fertility medication
*** In vitro fertilisation
** Fertility awareness
** Unintended pregnancy

### Testing

* Pregnancy test
* 3D ultrasound
* Home testing
* Obstetric ultrasonography
* Prenatal testing

### Prenatal stage
#### Prenatal development

* Prenatal development
** Fundal height
** Gestational age
** Human embryogenesis
** Maternal physiological changes

#### Prenatal care

* Prenatal care – regular medical and nursing care recommended for women during pregnancy. Also known as antenatal care.
** Prenatal nutrition
*** Maternal nutrition
*** Nutrition and pregnancy
** Concomitant conditions
*** Diabetes mellitus and pregnancy
*** Systemic lupus erythematosus and pregnancy

#### Prenatal monitoring

* Amniocentesis
* Chorionic villus sampling
* Cardiotocography
* Nonstress test

### Childbirth

* Childbirth

#### Preparation for childbirth

* Adaptation to extrauterine life
* Bradley method of natural childbirth
* Hypnobirthing
* Lamaze technique
* Nesting instinct

#### Roles during childbirth

* Doula
* Midwife
* Mother – a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that united with a sperm which grew into a child. During childbirth, she is the patient.
* Perinatal nursing
* Men's role in childbirth
* Obstetrician

#### Delivery

* Pelvimetry
** Bishop score
** Cervical dilation
** Cervical effacement
** Position
* Home birth
** Multiple birth
** Natural childbirth
** Unassisted childbirth
** Water birth
* Aspects and conditions
** Bloody show
** Childbirth positions
** Contraction
** Presentation
*** Breech birth
*** Cephalic presentation
*** Shoulder presentation
*** Rupture of membranes

### Postpartum issues

* Postpartum
** Child care
*** Breastfeeding
** Congenital disorders
** Sex after pregnancy

## Complications of pregnancy and childbirth

* Complications of pregnancy ( list)
** abortion
** abruption
** breech birth
** cephalo-pelvic disproportion
** caesarean section, cesarean section, C-section
** dermatoses of pregnancy specific skin conditions during pregnancy
** diabetes
** eclampsia
** ectopic pregnancy
** epilepsy and pregnancy
** gestational diabetes
** Group B Streptococcus infection
** HELLP syndrome
** hypertension
** hysterectomy
** Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR)
** macrosomia (big baby)
** malpractice
** miscarriage or stillbirth
** obstetric fistula
** obstetric hemorrhage
** Pelvic girdle pain
** placenta praevia
** pre-eclampsia
** premature birth, preterm labor or prematurity
** small for gestational age (SGA)
** uterine rupture
** uterine incarceration

## Obstetrics organizations

* American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists
* American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
* British Pregnancy Advisory Service
* British Society of Urogynaecologists
* European Society of Gynaecological Oncology
* FOGSI
* Gynecologic Oncology Group
* Ipas (organization)
* Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan
* Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada
* World Endometriosis Research Foundation

## Obstetrics publications

* Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica
* African Journal of Reproductive Health
* American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
* Climacteric (journal)
* The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care
* Gynecological Endocrinology
* Human Fertility (Cambridge)
* Human Reproduction (journal)
* Hypertension in Pregnancy
* International Journal of Fertility
* Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences
* Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine
* Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
* Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology
* Menopause (journal)
* Obstetrics & Gynecology (journal)
* Placenta (journal)
* Reproduction (journal)
* Reproductive Sciences
* Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine
* Women & Health

## Persons influential in obstetrics

* Edward Kowalski