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

Obstetrical History

Pregnancy and childbirth

Family planning

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

Female reproductive anatomy

Conception

Human fertilization

Testing

Prenatal stage

Prenatal development

Prenatal development

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

Childbirth

Childbirth

Preparation for childbirth

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