This text is intended to serve as a reference guide for clinicians who consult pregnant women presenting with abdominal and pelvic pain. Many health care providers care for pregnant women including attending physicians, resident physicians, advanced practice nurses, certified nurse, midwives, labor and delivery nurses, operating room and post-anesthesia care nurses, medical students and others.  

 

The book addresses obstetrical and non-obstetrical aspects to the diagnostic process.  Key features include:

 

• the anatomical and physiological alterations of pregnancy

 

• physical examination and management challenges in the first, second and third trimesters

 

• laboratory findings in the gravid female

 

• diagnostic imaging in the gravid female

 

• assessment of the fetus(es)

 

• Surgical and anesthetic issues in the gravid female

 

• Medico-legal challenges in caring for pregnant women