The Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaceologists (DRCOG) examination consists of 60 multiple choice questions (MCQs) and 22 six minute structured clinical examination stations (OSCEs), of which two are rest stations. This one day examination is designed for General Practice trainees, ideally with six months' experience in obstetrics and gynaecology at the senior house officer grade.This book presents three complete DRCOG MCQ and OSCE circuits and encompasses all the possible MCQ and OSCE topics that can and have been asked in the DRCOG examination. They are presented in an identical way to the exam itself.The author, Mrs Una Coales MD, FRCSEd, DRCOG, trained in medicine in the USA and moved to practise in the UK. She has taken and passed the DRCOG exam herself and has also published popular exam texts for PLAB Parts 1 and 2.

The proposed volume is distinctive in that it offers different and even competing perspectives on loss, grief and bereavement, which is essential given the complexities of the tragic human experience of perinatal, neonatal, and pediatric death. The Editors have selected an impressive array of contributors who have provided new theoretical approaches and explored extant concepts in new ways. The book is foundational for both novice scholars in the field of perinatal and pediatric grief and bereavement and for clinicians who seek a trusted resource in their care of bereaved women and families. Combining all of the theories into one provides easy access for the emerging canon on perinatal and pediatric loss.

This title is designed to help the candidate in preparation for the short essay paper components of the written MRCOG Part II examination. By providing a section of model answers with bullet points indicating specific points where marks are allocated, this text provides the candidate with a firm grounding in examination principles and technique for the short essay question papers. A section of practice papers is provided, 10 in obstetrics and 10 in gynaecology with marking schemes by which the reader can test their knowledge under examination conditions. Also valuable as a revision aid, this book highlights the core information that is central to all the MRCOG Part II examination components.

This extensively illustrated book provides an accessible and up-to-date introduction to obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia. With only three principal authors, there is a consistency of style within a comprehensive textbook that presents the basic science, pharmacology and clinical practice relevant to obstetric anaesthesia. Chapters cover topics such as analgesia during labour, anaesthesia and postoperative analgesia for caesarean delivery, major obstetric and anaesthetic complications, evaluation of the foetus and resuscitation of the neonate, and common clinical scenarios such as management of pre-eclampsia, obesity, multiple gestation and co-existing disease.

The Routledge International Handbook of Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health is the authoritative reference work on important, leading-edge developments in the domains of women's sexual and reproductive health. The handbook adopts a life-cycle approach to examine key milestones and events in women's sexual and reproductive health. Contributors drawn from a range of disciplines, including psychology, medicine, nursing and midwifery, sociology, public health, women's studies, and indigenous studies, explore issues through three main lenses: the biopsychosocial model feminist perspectives international, multidisciplinary perspectives that acknowledge the intersection of identities in women's lives. The handbook presents an authoritative review of the field, with a focus on state-of-the-art work, encouraging future research and policy development in women's sexual and reproductive health. Finally, the handbook will inform health care providers about the latest research and clinical developments, including women's experiences of both normal and abnormal sexual and reproductive functions. Drawing upon international expertise from leading academics and clinicians in the field, this is essential reading for scholars and students interested in women's reproductive health.

This collection brings together the leading research in maternity care from the United States, Canada and Europe to discuss systems of care for pregnancy and childbirth. The essays focus on the practical side of "good" social science and "feminist-friendly" research. The text not only looks at maternity, but also the act of childbirth, with the goal of providing not just comparative perspectives of care, but also to integrate the differences in care within each essay for a truly international understanding of maternity care.

This book is a collection of original essays on the meaning of providing care. These essays address not only the work of caring for the elderly, but also the work of caring for children, the infirm and those with disabilities.
The essays approach the topic from an ethical standpoint and also from a more practical, feminist and sociological point of view. The main goal of this book is to re-conceive the notion of care work, beginning with steps as simple as replacing the phrase 'caregiver' with the phrase 'care worker'.

During the early 1990s, global health experts developed a new model of emergency obstetric care: post-abortion care or PAC. In developing countries with restrictive abortion laws and where NGOs relied on US family planning aid, PAC offered an apolitical approach to addressing the consequences of unsafe abortion. In Dying to Count, Siri Suh traces how national and global population politics collide in Senegal as health workers, health officials, and NGO workers strive to demonstrate PAC’s effectiveness in the absence of rigorous statistical evidence that the intervention reduces maternal mortality. Suh argues that pragmatically assembled PAC data convey commitments to maternal mortality reduction goals while obscuring the frequency of unsafe abortion and the inadequate care women with complications are likely to receive if they manage to reach a hospital. At a moment when African women face the highest risk worldwide of death from complications related to pregnancy, birth, or abortion, Suh’s ethnography of PAC in Senegal makes a critical contribution to studies of global health, population and development, African studies, and reproductive justice.  

Originally published in 1982 Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Tudor and Stuart England traces the development of obstetrics and gynaecology over the past two centuries. Between the 16th and 18th century midwifery passed from a female mystery, employing traditional medicines and superstitions, to a scientifically-based clinical skill, with both gains and losses to the patient. The case-mortality was high enough to make the increasing involvement of male surgeons socially acceptable, despite sexual taboos. Thus, as scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology developed and was applied in the form of new techniques, so the midwives, who had less opportunity and inclination to acquire the new knowledge and skills, lost esteem and by the mid-eighteenth century were increasingly relegated to the service of the poor. The book also examines ideas about sexuality, menstruation, conception, pregnancy and lactation and shows how the views of society about femaleness, marital relations and the management of pregnancy and childbearing were influenced by these notions.

Rayna Rapp, one of the leading feminist anthropologists in the United States, explores the complex and contradictory nature of prenatal diagnosis and its social impact and cultural meaning through the narratives of the people who have experienced it. Rich with the voices and stories of participants, these touching firsthand accounts examine how women of diverse racial, ethnic, class and religious backgrounds perceive prenatal testing. These moral issues have prompted complex questions such as:
* What do women want and not want from technology in pregnancy?
* What conditions are 'worth' an abortion?
* How do women receiving a 'bad' diagnosis cope with their ultimate decisions?

This book is a simple guide to the diagnosis, investigation, and treatment of all gynaecological cancers. It discusses the management of patients with gynaecological malignancies; considers the principles of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery; explains when and why each modality is used in treatment; covers the pathology of gynaecological cancer; discusses treatment of the advanced disease; and includes a chapter on the role of palliative care. The multidisciplinary approach reflects the cooperative practice in combined clinics.

A bracing account that challenges current medical thinking. This book makes urgently clear that winning the war on cancer will not be accomplished by physicians, scientists, pharmaceutical corporations, epidemiologists and geneticists, nor by the thousands employed in governmental agencies and universities at home and abroad. It will be won by people who understand the connection between the loss of personal health and the unchecked boundaries of worldwide pollution.

New mothers' feelings of isolation and anxiety that can often accompany the birth of a baby can trigger postnatal depression. If health and social care professionals, counsellors and therapists can find the right ways through groupwork to support women at this time, they can help them overcome these feelings. This book describes setting up and managing a discussion group for new mothers to provide support and introduce women to others at the same life stage in a safe environment. It shows how facilitating this structured activity can be positive and empowering for all concerned. It is practical and stimulating reading for everyone involved professionally with postnatal women. Contents Background and preparations for a postnatal group The world of motherhood Maternal health Planning the group Managing the group Expectations and reality Roles of motherhood Changes in relationships Parenting style Focus on feelings Building self-esteem

Pregnancy. For many women it is an exhilarating period of their lives. Having already made the decision to conceive, now women are confronted with a more encumbering choice, one riddled with emotional and moral implications: the option to test the health of their fetus prior to birth.
Rayna Rapp, one of the leading feminist anthropologists in the United States, explores the complex and contradictory nature of prenatal diagnosis and its social impact and cultural meaning through the narratives of the people who have experienced it. Rich with the voices and stories of participants, these touching, firsthand accounts examine how women of diverse racial, ethnic, class and religious backgrounds perceive prenatal testing, the most prevalent and routinized of the new reproducing technologies. This Pandora's box of moral issues has prompted complex questions, such as: What do women want and not want from technology in pregnancy? What conditions are "worth" an abortion? How do women receiving a "bad" diagnosis cope with their ultimate decisions?
Based on the author's decade of research and her own personal experiences with amniocentesis, "Testing Women, Testing the Fetus" explores the "geneticization" of family life in all its complexity and diversity.

Hippocrates' Woman demonstrates the role of Hippocratic ideas about the female body in the subsequent history of western gynaecology. It examines these ideas not only in the social and cultural context in which they were first produced, but also the ways in which writers up to the Victorian period have appealed to the material in support of their own theories.
Among the conflicting tange of images of women given in the Hippocratic corpus existed one tradition of the female body which says it is radically unlike the male body, behaving in different ways and requiring a different set of therapies. This book sets this model within the context of Greek mythology, especially the myth of Pandora and her difference from men, to explore the image of the body as something to be read.
Hippocrates' Woman presents an arresting study of the origins of gynaecology, an exploration of how the interior workings of the female body were understood and the influence of Hippocrates' theories on the gynaecology of subsequent ages.

Pregnancy complicated by neurological disorders is a challenging area for both obstetricians and neurologists. Treatment of the maternal condition often needs to be adjusted because of concerns for the fetus, and some conditions have a major impact on the method, mode, and timing of delivery. Many of the clinical problems that arise in pregnant women with a neurological disease have not been the subject of clinical trials, so management must often be based on what published evidence is available and a good understanding of the likely interactions between the condition and pregnancy and vice versa. The editors and contributors represent a team with considerable experience in this area. They offer their "best practice" advice as how to treat the mother effectively, ensuring fetal safety, as well as embracing a philosophy that the pregnancy of a woman with a neurological disease should be made as enjoyable and rewarding for her as is possible.

In ancient Greece, gynaecology originated in the myth of the first woman Pandora, whose beautiful appearance was seen to cover her dangerous "insides". This book demonstrates how ancient Greek healers read the signs offered by their patients' bodies, arguing that medicine was based on ideas about women and their bodies found in myth and ritual. Helen King deploys a wide range of comparative material from the social sciences to discuss religious healing, chronic pain and the creation of a powerful self-image by aspiring healers. She outlines how nursing and midwifery have tried to create their own versions of the ancient Greek past to give themselves great status, and presents a detailed account of how doctors twisted ancient Greek texts into ways of controlling women's behaviour. Finally she analyzes how later medicine, by diagnosing "hysteria" and by recommending practices such as clitoridectomy, gave its decisions authority by claiming ancient Greek origins which never existed. The text provides an insight into the origins of gynaecology and the influence of the early study and medical texts on later medical practices and theories up to the Victorian era.

First published in 1998, this book covers a variety of health issues in the contemporary Middle east. Its thirteen chapters, contributed by a total of 23 authors and co-authors, reflect several different disciplines relevant for health studies, including epidemiology, economics and anthropology. In the field of reproductive health, there are chapters on maternal health indicators, fertility, infertility and the utilization of family planning services. In the field of infectious disease there are chapters on schistosomiasis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and Rift Valley Fever. Several different parts of the Middle East and North Africa are covered, including Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Palestine and Lebanon. Problems of reproductive health and infectious disease in the region are seen to be more serious than generally recognised. There are significant cultural and political obstacles in both areas. A particular need is for greater empowerment of women as both clients and providers within the health care systems.

Female Puberty: A Comprehensive Guide for Clinicians is a practical reference, covering the full range of issues related to pubertal development. Developed to answer pointed clinical questions and to provide a thorough review of the literature, the book covers both the basics and the complexities of puberty, encompassing psychosocial development to pubertal nuances in highly specialized populations. Comprehensive in scope, this title offers concepts that are concisely conveyed and chapters that complement each other well. Complex subjects such as details of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis are covered in a readily understandable manner and bullet points throughout the text serve as helpful reminders to the reader. An invaluable contribution to the literature, Female Puberty: A Comprehensive Guide for Clinicians will be of great interest to all health providers concerned with female reproductive health - including obstetrician gynecologists, reproductive endocrine specialists, pediatricians, pediatric specialists, family practitioners and allied health professionals.

This timely resource offers extensive discussions on the pharmacological, environmental, endocrinological, and natural factors that alter reproductive or developmental processes-elucidating the effects of toxicants on mechanisms of reproduction. Describing biological actions common to both genders as well as gender-specific processes, Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology -provides an overview of the basic biology and physiology of organ systems affected by toxicants -furnishes detailed examples of developmental toxicology -analyzes germ cell toxicity and infertility -covers the developmental effects of neurotoxicity -considers periods of exposure and long-term toxicological consequences -explains how gonadal processes may be susceptible to toxicants in other reproductive organ systems -and more! With over 3700 bibliographic citations and more than 100 photographs, drawings, and tables, Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology is a useful reference for toxicologists; reproductive, developmental, cell, and molecular biologists; endocrinologists; biochemists; obstetricians/gynecologists; pediatricians; pharmacists and pharmacologists; physiologists; geneticists; poison control specialists; and upper-level undergraduate, graduate, and medical school students in these disciplines.

Grieving Reproductive Loss: The Healing Process acknowledges the devastating impact these losses can have. Written in ""plain language"", the book attempts to bring about a greater understanding of the grief associated with reproductive loss and, through the Healing Process Model[copyright], offers a holistic approach for constructive healthy grieving and healing of body, mind, and spirit.

This is a book about the psychological journey women make when they become pregnant, give birth and adjust to life after childbirth. The focus of the book is on three main issues: The experience for women, their families and caregivers, the psychologicalneeds of women and their families at this time and the best way for caregivers to meet these psychological needs. The contributions in this book should provoke thought, discussion and debate about the psychological side of maternity care, and ultimately enhance the psychological care that is given to women and their families before, during and after childbirth.Multidisciplinary approach to subject Includes key points for caregivers in each chapter Includes new researdch findings fron qualitative and quantitative studies Includes comprehensive reviews of current literature

The entire span of a woman's reproductive years and beyond is the scope of this volume, which presents research covering events from first menstruation through the post-menopausal years. Special care has been taken to balance basic research and clinical information.

The volume comprises chapters on first menstruation, hypothalamic amenorrhea, implantation and recurrent abortion, XX metabolic syndrome, endometriosis, menopause, osteoporosis, minimally invasive surgery, assisted reproduction, ultrasound imaging in obstetrics, estrogen receptor modulators, and urogynecology. Papers on fertility drugs and gynecologic cancer, contraception today, prenatal genetic diagnosis, cloning and stem cells, transdermal hormone therapy, and estrogen and brain function will also be included.

Authors from the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics will address issues such as, Is there an optimal rate for cesarean section? and fistulas in Africa, as well as perinatal mortality in Europe.

This volume is the latest proceedings of a series of meetings that has been held in Athens for over a decade, and the participants are internationally known authorities in their fields.

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Unlike most previous publications that focus on menstruation, just a part of the cycle, The Menstrual Cycle presents a well researched study of the entire menstrual cycle and its relationship to women's lives. Anne Walker shows that women are neither the victims of raging hormonal fluctuations nor entirely unaffected by them. Women's own experiences in different culture are contrasted with medical textbook descriptions and the "normal" is found to be rather elusive.
Of particular interest to health psychologists, discourse analysts and women's studies, this book should also be read by doctors, nurses and any woman who has felt curious about her menstrual cycle and its possible effects.

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In recent years, there has been extensive analysis of the health effects of menopause and the safety and efficacy of the various "treatments". There has also been rising concern about the appropriation and pathologization of menopause by medicine and its effects on women. At the same time, however, there has been relatively little reflection on the social, cultural, philosophical and ethical issues raised by both menopause itself and the way it has been handled by medicine. This text brings together a number of reflections from a broad range of areas including feminism, cultural studies, clinical medicine, sociology, philosophy and political science and includes the voices and experiences of menopausal women themselves. In an innovative series of essays, current thinking about medicine, society and the body is examined critically. Particular attention is given to the medical representations of menopause, biology and ageing, the history of medical approaches to women and the tensions between bio-medical models and other explanations of menopause. The issue of hormonal therapies is explored in the context of the connections between women, medicine, representation and cultural politic