Background Magnesium sulfate is one of the most commonly prescribed intravenous medications in obstetrics. Despite its widespread use, there are limited data about magnesium pharmacokinetics, and magnesium is prescribed empirically…

Background Cesarean delivery rates vary widely across the United States. Health care usage in many other areas of medicine also varies widely across the United States; it is unknown whether…

Background Primiparous women have an increased risk of obstetric anal sphincter injury; because most of these patients deliver again, there are major concerns about mode of delivery: the risk of…

Background Intrauterine growth restriction is associated with short- and long-term neurodevelopmental problems. Structural brain changes underlying these alterations have been described with the use of different magnetic resonance–based methods that…

Background Stroke, which is a rare but devastating event during pregnancy, occurs in 34 of every 100,000 deliveries; obstetricians are often the first providers to be contacted by symptomatic patients….

Background There is growing evidence that hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are associated with increased long-term cardiovascular mortality in the mother. Hypertension in pregnancy, until recently, however, has been ignored largely…

Background Preeclampsia complicates approximately 3–5% of pregnancies and remains a major cause of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. It shares pathogenic similarities with adult cardiovascular disease as well as…

Background Recognition and assessment of apical vaginal support defects remains a significant challenge in the evaluation and management of prolapse. There are several reasons that this is likely: (1) Although the…