What is the Importance of Obstetrics?

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Obstetrics is the branch of medicine that deals with pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. It is a specialty with both medical and surgical aspects. Pregnant women are at an increased risk for certain diseases and conditions such as high blood pressure due to pregnancy which requires special attention from a physician. A physician who has specialized in obstetrics is known as an obstetrician while an obstetric nurse is called a midwife. They can improve maternal health, reduce infant mortality rate and boost neonatal health. Read and know about the importance of obstetrics, according to CEO Alta Hospitals David Topper.

Obstetricians are trained to perform routine tests such as ultrasounds, which use sound waves to produce images of internal organs on a monitor screen; dopplers, which use sound waves to measure blood flow through arteries; electrocardiograms (EKGs), which measure electrical activity within the heart muscle; and amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS), two types of prenatal tests used for genetic testing. They also can perform minor surgery such as Cesarean sections or episiotomies (incisions made in the vagina during delivery).

David Topper says that Obstetricians also perform amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) to determine if there are any genetic abnormalities in the fetus. They also have various other roles to perform:

The field of obstetrics has developed rapidly since its inception in the mid-1800s. In the United States alone, more than 4 million babies are born each year by cesarean section (C-section), which is a surgical procedure performed on a woman during pregnancy to deliver her baby. C-sections are often performed for medical reasons, such as when an expectant mother has diabetes or hypertension or when her baby is experiencing severe distress before birth. However, they can also be performed electively if there are no medical complications; this typically happens when a mother requests a C-section instead of undergoing labor naturally.

Author Bio: The author likes to write on various kinds of medical processes and techniques in his spare time, for the knowledge of readers.