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?

The discovery of ER by Dr. Elwood Jensen exactly 60 years ago has not only led to the birth of a whole new vital nuclear receptor research field but also made a rapid, direct and lasting impact on the treatment and prevention of breast cancer. Since that landmark discovery, tremendous progress has been made in our understanding of the molecular functions of ER and development of targeted therapies against ER pathways for breast cancer treatment. However, there is currently no book available addressing these discoveries and recent advancement in a historical and systematic fashion. This book is intended to provide comprehensive, most up-to-date information on the history and recent advancement of ER and breast cancer by world renowned leaders in the field. These chapters include the history of the discovery of ER; physiological and pathological roles of ER; recent discovery of ER cistrome, transcriptome and its regulation of noncoding RNAs such as microRNAs and enhancer RNAs in breast cancer; development and clinical practices of the first targeted therapy Tamoxifen and other antiestrogens for breast cancer treatment; structural basis of ER and antiestrogen actions; molecular insights into endocrine resistance; the role of ER mutants, ER-beta and environmental estrogens in breast cancer; and emerging state-of-the-art therapeutic approaches currently in development to overcome treatment resistance and future perspectives. The book will provide undergraduate and graduate students, basic scientists and clinical cancer researchers, residents, fellows, as well as clinicians, oncology educators and the general public a thorough and authoritative review of these exciting topics.

The potential impact of work being conducted in genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics upon clinical practice for gynecologists is immense but not yet completely appreciated. This groundbreaking text from international experts examines the newest topics on the perinatal agenda and gives clinicians a real look into the future via the newest methodologies.

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

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.

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.

This updated and expanded edition of The Pregnant Drug Addict (1995) explores the difficulties of managing the maternity care of those who are drug dependent. Catherine Siney has brought together a number of specialists whose combined expertise provides an essential guide to this problematic subject. Key issues include the medical and obstetric problems of mothers, the consequences for the child, pregnant women who are HIV positive or have hepatitis B, outreach work and counselling.

There are many possible causes of pelvic pain in a non-pregnant female patient, and it has been estimated to be responsible for nearly 40% of all visits by female patients to a family doctor and 10% of all referrals to specialist gynecologists. However, the topic of how to investigate and diagnose has been surprisingly neglected in print. This important and much-needed text from internationally respected experts shows how important ultrasound can be as a tool for physicians caring for women's health.

Get Through MRCOG Part 2: MCQs covers the breadth and depth of the MRCOG Part 2 examination syllabus and is an essential revision tool for candidates preparing for this examination. The comprehensive and wide collection of practice questions is designed to help the candidate test and assess their knowledge of the subject, aiding them in thorough preparation for the exam. The text contains 750 multiple choice stems, each with around four associated questions, providing the reader with a total of 3000 individual questions with which to test themselves. The material is divided up by subject area, allowing candidates to test their knowledge on a particular topic. The 13 'modules' are followed by two mock papers, each containing a selection of questions on different subject areas, which the reader can attempt under timed conditions. Answers are provided, with useful explanatory information for all questions to help the reader understand why their answer is right or wrong. The author, Paul Ayuk, was clinical lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology at Oxford University for 6 years and has run an on-line MRCOG course for over 5 years, assisting over 8000 candidates worldwide.

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.

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.

An analysis of cell death in reproductive physiology. It examines topics such as the control of apoptosis in the uterus during decidualization and stern cell factor regulation of apoptosis in mouse primordial germ cells.

Covering both the pharmacological and the more controversial non-pharmacological management of pain relief, this comprehensive text, edited by an internationally renowned specialist, provides practical guidance to all involved in this aspect of labour care.

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.

There are many changes in the skin, hair, and nails during and after pregnancy. Patients are certainly aware that those changes are occurring, but few physicians and even fewer patients know how to predict the course of those changes. Pigmentary changes occur, but are they permanent? Can they be prevented or reversed? Hair may become thicker during pregnancy, only to fall out in the postpartum period. When will hair stop falling out? Will it grow back? What hormonal changes are occurring to produce these effects on the skin, hair, and nails? Will those hormonal changes affect other organs? Some cutaneous manifestations of pregnancy are common and recognized by most physicians. Abdominal striae, for example, are easily identified, but physicians have many questions about them. Why do they develop? Can they be prevented or treated? Other cutaneous manifestations of pregnancy are less common and recognized by few. For example, pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy is a debilitating condition that is treatable once diagnosed. Even more important than the treatment, the knowledge imparted to a worried mother that her child will be fine and that the condition is se- limited is priceless; but the condition must first be recognized by the patient's physician. All of these questions and conditions are addressed in this extraordinary book. Pigm- tary disorders are addressed in detail in Chap. 2.

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

This is a comprehensive, up-to-date, authoritative research text and clinical reference work the menopause. It contains over 90 contributions covering every conceivable topic in the management of the menopause in women and related issues in the aging male. The book contains many illustrations and a wealth of references.

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.

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

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

Children With Prenatal Drug Exposure examines new medical approaches for predicting the developmental progress of children who have been exposed to drugs in utero. This book outlines effective methods for intervention and assessment and indicates future directions for investigation. It provides practical and up-to-date information on treatments and research development, while it encourages practitioners to come to their own conclusions through careful documentation and analysis of each case. Children With Prenatal Drug Exposure cuts across many disciplines to provide the reader with a vivid analysis of the complexities and challenges surrounding health care of children who have been prenatally exposed to drugs. This guidebook explores the controversies over treatment and therapy options and the ethics of care. It advocates positive outcome intervention methods that promote the health interests of both mother and unborn child whenever possible, with an emphasis on clinical efforts geared to change maternal behavior.Practical and comprehensive, Children With Prenatal Drug Exposure explores a full range of provoking topics, including: neurological effects and sensory motor delays caused by cocaine exposure foster care and its impact on motor development adolescent pregnancy and the complications of prenatal substance abuse ethical dilemmas multidimensional measurement systems and longitudinal research The book's authors believe that in order to meet the needs of children who have been prenatally exposed to drugs, care providers must know the limitations associated with the process and methodology of assessment and learn to address the shortcomings of evaluation. With this in mind, this book aims to equip psychologists, physical and occupational therapists, researchers, and physicians with the know-how they require for optimizing their health care services and contributing valuable research that the field so urgently needs.

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.

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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