Challenges of major obstetric haemorrhage
Every minute of every day, a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. The biggest killer is obstetric haemorrhage, the successful treatment of which is a challenge for both the developed…
Coagulation in pregnancy
The coagulation system undergoes significant change during pregnancy. The clinician caring for the parturient must understand these changes, particularly when the parturient has a pre-existing haematological condition. Because many haematological…
Magnesium in obstetrics
Magnesium is a critical physiological ion, and magnesium deficiency might contribute to the development of pre-eclampsia, to impaired neonatal development and to metabolic problems extending into adult life. Pharmacologically, magnesium…
Anaesthesia for the obstetric patient with (non-obstetric) systemic disease
The number of women with serious (non-obstetric) systemic diseases achieving pregnancy and requiring obstetric anaesthetic management is increasing. The conditions that are most likely to cause maternal morbidity and mortality…
The ongoing challenges of regional and general anaesthesia in obstetrics
The increasing trend of caesarean section in the setting of increasing maternal age, obesity and other concomitant diseases will continue to challenge the obstetric anaesthetist in his/her task of providing…
The effects of maternal labour analgesia on the fetus
Maternal labour pain and stress are associated with progressive fetal metabolic acidosis. Systemic opioid analgesia does little to mitigate this stress, but opioids readily cross the placenta and cause fetal-neonatal…
Pharmacogenetic influences in obstetric anaesthesia
Genomic discoveries in the field of perioperative medicine and anaesthesia have generated multiple publications and some hope that pharmacogenetic testing may guide clinicians to provide safe and effective medicine in…
The preoperative assessment of obstetric patients
The importance of early identification and management of the high-risk obstetric patient is emphasised in the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH) report. High-risk patients who need anaesthetic…
Obstetric Analgesia and Anaesthesia
1. (a) T (b) T (c) T (d) F (e) T The failure rate of the cervical cap is reduced with increasing parity. In the UK the cumulative life table…
Abortion and Post-abortion Care – Volume I
1. Regarding failure rates of contraceptive methods: a) The true method failure rate for cervical caps is dependent on parity b) In the UK the cumulative life table pregnancy rate…
