BOOK NEWS AND REVIEWS

Book reviews
LECTURE NOTES ON This volume for the first time combines the two
OBSTETRICS AND subjects of obstetrics and gynaecology and has been
GYNAECOLOGY re-organised‘tocover chronologically the life span of a
By Geoffrey Chamberlain and woman. The exceptionally clear layout and the liberal
Diana Hamilton-Fairley use of illustrations lend themselves well to revision, but
the note format at times inevitably results in less explan-
Pziblished by Blackwell Science, atory content and requires a certain level of prior
1999 knowledge to makc the text fully comprehensible.
ISBN 0-632-04957-X Although much of the content is inmediately recog-
k16.95 nisable from the previous editions and still contains
some rather ‘traditional’management regimes, efforts
have heen inade to ensure that the factual content has
Lecture Notes OM Obstetrics and its been updated and that the approach is more problem-
partner Lecture i\bteS on G p a e orientated than nus previously the case. This is an
cology have been published in easily digestible revision text, not only for MB and
seven editions since 1962 and DRCOG students, but also for all those involved in
1766, respectively, and have been a cornerstone of reading women’s care. However. l x w-arned, the size of the book
for medical students studying for MBBS. I remember belies the wealth of factual information contained within.
choosing them myself at medical scliool for the simple
reason that they were the slimmest text books axailable. Reviewed by Robert J Bradley MD rich MRCGP FRCOG,
Much to my horror at the time, but in retrospect relief, I Consultant Obstetrician and @maecologist,Royal Sussex County
discovered the concentrated nature of the material within. Hospital. Eastern Road, Brighton. East Sussex BN2 5BE. ITK

HIGH RISK PREGNANCY. Many. especially the weaker among us,

MANAGEMENT OPTIONS, may take what is written as Gospel. For
2nd edition example, in the chapter ‘Bleeding in late
Edited by DK James, PJ Steer, pregnancy‘,we are advised that there is still
CP Weiner and B Gonik a place for the ‘double set-up’ in theatre in
cases of suspected placenta praevia. I
Piiblished b])WB Saunders, would doubt if this is common practice and
1999 am intrigued that the diagnosis of placenta
ISBN 0-7020-2223-3 praevia cannot always be ascertained using
&99.00 abdominal and vaginal ultrasound. The
safest practice in obstetrics in 2000, surely,
is to perform an elective caesarean section.
Every religion requires its Bible Also, in the chapter on assisted vaginal
and the second edition of this delivery, the American author (page 1193)
book certainly acts as such for says that the operator using a vacuum
the obstetrician. Each chapter is extractor must be willing to abandon the
comprehensive and well refer- technique if obvious progression of descent
enced and, in general, reflects is not evident with approximately ‘five
the latest thinking. The editors push-pull events‘ or $severalpop-offs’.This
have wisely secured the help of may be one man’s view but it is unlikely to
enthusiasts in their own fields to be authors of the be that of the whole jury. In British obstetrics, I think the
individual chapters. As a reference tome for someone advice given as part of Uaird‘s safety rules is perhaps more
with a particularly difficult clinical problem. it acts as a relevant: ’The a l p must be applied no more than once -
fount of almost all knowledge. This is, however, perhaps descent of the head on the first pull, not just the scalp -
where the potential problems begin. complete delivery of the head with no more than three pulls’.

7%eObstetrician G Gynaecologist April 2000 Vol. 2 No, 2 53

 BOOK NEWS AND REVIEWS
There are also some glaring exemptions. In the chapter
on ‘Medicationin pregnancy’,which is itself comprehensive
of those drugs mentioned, there is no mention of the most
widely prescribed dnigs in pregnancy: anti-emetics and
heartburn medication. The reader of the book would be
well advised to look at the background of the author in
each chapter for one of the most fnistrating aspects of the
book is that the very strength of the book is its main
weakness. The editors have wisely chosen those who are
well-recognised in their subspecialty but this means that
they have authors from both Britain and America and
beyond, which means that one chapter can be obviously
based on British methods and is readily identifiable, while
the next one is obviously American and perhaps slightly
alien to one‘s everyday working practice. However, if one
PRENATAL CARE:
EFFECTIVENESS AND
IMPLEMENTATION
Edited by Marie C McCormick
and Joanna E Siegel
Published by Cambridge
University Press, 1999
ISBN 0-521-66196-X
539.95 (USS67.95)
In June 1997, the Harvard
School of Public Health hosted
a conference examining
prenatal care and its impact on
the health of women and
children. The conference was
convened in recognition o f the
gap between research and
healthcare delivery. The contributions and presentations it
generated were considered worthy of further dissemin-
ation in this book.
The Editors aim to encourage readers to identify
opportunities to translate research into practice and then
to set prenatal care issues within the broader context of
women‘s health needs. In the spirit of their ambition, the
chapters cover a vast array of issues ranging from an
overview of ‘detection and intervention in birth defects’ to
a consideration of the ethics o f children’s rights.
Each chapter provides a comprehensive summary of its
subject, usually with a clear, referenced exposition of the
science, followed by a conclusion which sets the current
state of knowledge in the wider framework of women‘s
health and identifies the direction of future research.
Each chapter has its own mini-introduction and con-
54 The Obstetriciun G Gynuecologist Apm’l2000
BOOK NEWS AND REVIEWS
accepts this as being ’interesting’then indeed the book is
overall an excellent one and every obstetrician should have
access 10 it.
It a7ould be useful to have the references from each
chapter on CD-ROM. Every maternity unit should have a
copy available and easily accessible for perusal.
The highlighted summaries of management options at
the end of each chapter could be extracted and collated
and would make an excellent pocket handbook for all
junior staff in a busy maternity ward.
Reviewed by James C Dornan MD FRCOG, Consultant
Obstetrician and Gynaecok@l, The Royal Maternity Hospital,
Grosvenor Road. Belfast BT12 6BA, Northern Ireland
clusion. The editors have successfully
eliminated the potential for jarring of
styles between different authors so that,
although the book can be ’dipped into‘
for specific information, it reads well
from cover to cover.
The reference lists which accompany
each chapter are comprehensive and up-
to-date and will provide students - at all
1eVGlS - with an excellent overview.
The majority of the statistics and
examples used in the text are American.
This could be irritating for the UK reader
but there is compensation in the range of
references provided and the accessibility
of the book’s style and presentation.
The epilogue provides a useful summary
of the contributions. It also selves to
remind how- the various authors have
indeed moved the reader from a
traditional, cost-benefit view of prenatal care towards a
broader view of pregnancy and the opportunities for health
care it presents.
McCormick and Siegel have produced a wide-ranging
and hugely informative interpretation and analysis of
prenatal care - an interpretation which sets it firmly, as
promised, within the wide context of the continuum of
women’s health. If the book disappoints some readers it
will only be in its failure to consistently consider and
address the operational aspects o f the implementation
and delivery of effective prenatal care.
Reviewed by Aidan Halligan MA MII MRCPI MRCOG,
Professor of Fetal Ailedicine. Department of Obstetrics and
Gpnaecology, University of Leicester, Robert Kilpatrick Building,
Leicester Royal Infirmary. 1’0 Box 65, Leicestcr LE2 7LX,L K
Vd.2 iV0.2