Obstetrics

obstetrics?

i need some info on obstetrics. like what they do and stuff like that. thank you. do they have to deliver babies or can they just be a doctor for the pregnant women?

Public Comments

1. An obstetrician sees pregnant women and delivers babies. What other kind of info do you need?
2. Obstetrics is the surgical specialty dealing with the care of a woman and her baby during pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium (the period shortly after birth). Midwifery is the equivalent non-surgical specialty. Most obstetricians are also gynaecologists (OB/Gyn's). In obstetric practice, an obstetrician sees a pregnant woman on a regular basis to check the progress of the pregnancy, to verify the absence of problems and diseases, to monitor the state of pre-existing disease and its possible effect on the ongoing pregnancy. A woman's schedule of antenatal appointment varies according to the presence of risk factors, such as diabetes, and local resources. Some of the clinically and statistically more important risk factors that must be systematically excluded, especially in advancing pregnancy, are pre-eclampsia, abnormal placentation, abnormal fetal presentation and Intrauterine growth restriction. For example, to identify pre-eclampsia, blood-pressure and albuminuria (level of urine protein) are checked at every opportunity. Placenta praevia must be excluded (PP = low lying placenta that, at least partially, obstructs the birth canal and therefore warrants elective caesarean delivery); this can only be achieved with the use of an ultrasound scan. In late pregnancy fetal presentation must be established: cepfalic presentation (head first) is the norm but the fetus may present feet-first or buttocks-first (breech), side-on (transverse), or at an angle (oblique presentation). Intrauterine Growth Restriction is a general designation, where the fetus is smaller than expected when compared to its gestational age (in this case fetal growth parameters show a tendency to drop off from the 50th percentile eventually falling below the 10th percentile, when plotted on a fetal growth chart). Causes can be intrinsic (to the fetus) or extrinsic (maternal or placental problems). During labor itself, the obstetrician may be called on to do a number of things such as monitor the progress of labor, by reviewing the nursing chart, performing vaginal examination, assessing the trace produced by a fetal monitoring device (the cardiotocograph), accelerate the progress of labor by infusion of the hormone oxytocin, provide pain relief, opiates, or by epidural anesthesia done by anaethestists, an anesthesiologist, or a nurse anesthetist. Obstetricians can also surgically assist labor, by forceps or the Ventouse (a suction cap applied to the fetus' head), by caesarean section, if vaginal delivery is decided against or appears too difficult. Caesarean section can either be elective, that is, arranged before labor, or decided during labor as an alternative to hours of waiting. True "emergency" cesarean sections (where minutes count) are a rarity. I hope that this information helps answer your question. Good luck :)