Psychiatric Disorders
Abstract Psychiatric disorders occur commonly during pregnancy and can have significant effects on the mother, child, and family, and important economic costs to society. Suicide is a major cause of…
Cardiovascular Disease
Abstract Cardiac disease is the leading cause of indirect maternal mortality. The optimal management of women with cardiovascular disease begins before conception. Normal physiologic changes of pregnancy and the peripartum…
Epidural and Spinal Analgesia: Anesthesia for Labor and Vaginal Delivery
Abstract The ideal labor analgesic technique is safe for both the mother and the infant, does not interfere with the progress of labor and delivery, and provides flexibility in response…
Hematologic and Coagulation Disorders
Abstract This chapter first addresses the medical, obstetric, and anesthetic considerations for diagnoses that cause anemia in pregnancy. The second half of the chapter reviews the coagulation cascade, the acquired…
Preterm Labor and Delivery
Abstract Preterm delivery is defined as delivery before 37 weeks’ gestation. It occurs in 5% to 9% of pregnancies in developed countries and is responsible for 75% to 80% of…
Abnormal Presentation and Multiple Gestation
Abstract The labor and delivery of a parturient with a multiple gestation and/or fetal breech presentation represents a major challenge for the obstetrician and the anesthesia provider. Anesthetic requirements may…
The Difficult Airway: Risk, Assessment, Prophylaxis, and Management
Abstract Although a dramatic decrease in the number of anesthesia-related deaths has been reported in the UK Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths over the past 40 years, complications from general…
Antepartum and Postpartum Hemorrhage
Abstract Obstetric hemorrhage is the most common cause of maternal mortality worldwide, accounting for roughly 15% of maternal deaths. The World Health Organization estimates that severe hemorrhage complicates 10.5% of…
Liver Disease
Abstract Liver diseases can be either incidental or unique to pregnancy and complicate as many as 3% of all pregnancies. The more common conditions are addressed in this chapter. Various…