Professional responsibility, good practice and malpractice in obstetrics is one of the major areas of medical-legal litigation. To date, however, there are no texts that deal simultaneously with both the critical aspects of labor and delivery and legal aspects. This text, for the first time, brings together both topics. It is the only one that responds to the need to provide a guide that indicates what to do and what not to do in the assistance of labor and delivery. It guides in the recognition of the negative aspects of management (bad practice) that are often based on traditional processes, on scientific assumptions never validated.