Outline of obstetrics

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to obstetrics:

Obstetrics – medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy (prenatal period), childbirth and the postnatal period.

What is obstetrics?
Obstetrics can be described as all of the following:
 * Medicine – medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness in human beings.
 * Medical specialty – branch of medical science. After completing medical school, physicians or surgeons usually further their medical education in a specific specialty of medicine by completing a multiple year residency to become a medical specialist.
 * Academic discipline – In addition to being a medical specialty, obstetrics is the study of the reproductive process within the female body, including fertilization, pregnancy and childbirth.

History of obstetrics

 * Childbirth and obstetrics in antiquity

Medical history

 * Gravidity and parity

Pregnancy and childbirth

 * Pregnancy
 * Childbirth

Family planning

 * Family planning
 * Birth control
 * Contraception
 * Pre-conception counseling

Female reproductive anatomy

 * Amniotic fluid
 * Amniotic sac
 * Amnion
 * Cervix
 * Endometrium
 * Fallopian tube
 * Ovaries
 * Pelvis
 * Pelvic bone width
 * Placenta
 * Uterus – Also called a womb.
 * Vagina

Conception

 * Human fertilization
 * Assisted reproductive technology
 * Artificial insemination
 * Fertility medication
 * In vitro fertilisation
 * Fertility awareness
 * Unintended pregnancy

Testing

 * Pregnancy test
 * 3D ultrasound
 * Home testing
 * Obstetric ultrasonography
 * Prenatal testing

Prenatal development

 * Prenatal development
 * Fundal height
 * Gestational age
 * Human embryogenesis
 * Maternal physiological changes

Prenatal care

 * Prenatal care – regular medical and nursing care recommended for women during pregnancy. Also known as antenatal care.
 * Prenatal nutrition
 * Maternal nutrition
 * Nutrition and pregnancy
 * Concomitant conditions
 * Diabetes mellitus and pregnancy
 * Systemic lupus erythematosus and pregnancy

Prenatal monitoring

 * Amniocentesis
 * Chorionic villus sampling
 * Cardiotocography
 * Nonstress test

Childbirth

 * Childbirth

Preparation for childbirth

 * Adaptation to extrauterine life
 * Bradley method of natural childbirth
 * Hypnobirthing
 * Lamaze technique
 * Nesting instinct

Roles during childbirth

 * Doula
 * Midwife
 * Mother – a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that united with a sperm which grew into a child. During childbirth, she is the patient.
 * Perinatal nursing
 * Men's role in childbirth
 * Obstetrician

Delivery

 * Pelvimetry
 * Bishop score
 * Cervical dilation
 * Cervical effacement
 * Position
 * Home birth
 * Multiple birth
 * Natural childbirth
 * Unassisted childbirth
 * Water birth
 * Aspects and conditions
 * Bloody show
 * Childbirth positions
 * Contraction
 * Presentation
 * Breech birth
 * Cephalic presentation
 * Shoulder presentation
 * Rupture of membranes

Postpartum issues

 * Postpartum
 * Child care
 * Breastfeeding
 * Congenital disorders
 * Sex after pregnancy

Complications of pregnancy and childbirth

 * Complications of pregnancy  ( list)
 * abortion
 * abruption
 * breech birth
 * cephalo-pelvic disproportion
 * caesarean section, cesarean section, C-section
 * dermatoses of pregnancy specific skin conditions during pregnancy
 * diabetes
 * eclampsia
 * ectopic pregnancy
 * epilepsy and pregnancy
 * gestational diabetes
 * Group B Streptococcus infection
 * HELLP syndrome
 * hypertension
 * hysterectomy
 * Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR)
 * macrosomia (big baby)
 * malpractice
 * miscarriage or stillbirth
 * obstetric fistula
 * obstetric hemorrhage
 * Pelvic girdle pain
 * placenta praevia
 * pre-eclampsia
 * premature birth, preterm labor or prematurity
 * small for gestational age (SGA)
 * uterine rupture
 * uterine incarceration

Obstetrics organizations

 * American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists
 * American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
 * British Pregnancy Advisory Service
 * British Society of Urogynaecologists
 * European Society of Gynaecological Oncology
 * FOGSI
 * Gynecologic Oncology Group
 * Ipas (organization)
 * Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Pakistan
 * Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada
 * World Endometriosis Research Foundation

Obstetrics publications

 * Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica
 * African Journal of Reproductive Health
 * American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
 * Climacteric (journal)
 * The European Journal of Contraception & Reproductive Health Care
 * Gynecological Endocrinology
 * Human Fertility (Cambridge)
 * Human Reproduction (journal)
 * Hypertension in Pregnancy
 * International Journal of Fertility
 * Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences
 * Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine
 * Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
 * Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology
 * Menopause (journal)
 * Obstetrics & Gynecology (journal)
 * Placenta (journal)
 * Reproduction (journal)
 * Reproductive Sciences
 * Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine
 * Women & Health

Persons influential in obstetrics

 * Edward Kowalski