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? edit

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 edit

Childbirth and obstetrics in antiquity

Medical history edit

Gravidity and parity

Pregnancy and childbirth edit

Family planning edit

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

Female reproductive anatomy edit

Conception edit

Human fertilization

Testing edit

Prenatal stage edit

Prenatal development edit

Prenatal development

Prenatal care edit

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 edit

Childbirth edit

Childbirth

Preparation for childbirth edit

Roles during childbirth edit

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