Mr. Jagdish Gandhi had his higher specialist training in Liverpool with Special interest training in Maternal Medicine and Intrapartum care. He has extensive experience and training in Urogynecology especially in the use of Tapes and Meshes for the Anti-incontinence and prolapse surgery and Botox for the Overactive Bladder. Mr. Gandhi is a Fellow of the RCOG and an Examiner for RCOG, London. He served as a RCOG college tutor and has recently been given recognition as a Tier Three Educator in postgraduate O & G medical education and training by the Faculty of RCOG Medical Educators. Mr. Gandhi has been an invited faculty member and a key speaker at the National and International conferences and scientific meetings. He has regularly conducted training workshops nationally and internationally to facilitate training in Urogynecology procedures.
The Textbook of Obstetrics by Professor J. B. Sharma is an immense contribution to the entire medical community that is currently engaged or planning to practice the Obstetrics. Professor Sharma has a long track record of academic activities, teaching and training, as well as some of the extraordinary publications and award-winning articles during his career spanning over a period of 30 years based in India and the UK. His painstaking preparation of this masterpiece has culminated in an outstanding textbook in the field of Obstetrics. As soon as you flip through the pages of this book, several eye-catching features stand out.
First, the illustrations and figures are simple though full of colors and are so narrative that the learning process becomes a pleasure. Equally, this essential tool has been used in an optimal way, thus preserving its effectiveness. Second, the logical organization of the sections is laid out in such a way that progression through each chapter becomes a smooth and a coherent reading material. Equally an intelligent use of the tables and lists has made presentation of material very easy to follow. Such lay out along with a detailed Index makes this textbook an easy-to-use reference book.
Third, the use of simple language immediately leads to a clear grasping of the concepts with minimal efforts. At the end of each chapter, the inclusion of examination questions is an excellent feature. The suggested reading is a welcome feature especially for those who need a further in-depth knowledge of a topic.
Finally, through consulting lots of literature and current guidelines, Professor Sharma has left no stone unturned to establish current and factual contents for each of the chapters.
Now a brief glimpse through the contents of this book, which has several sections with each section having a number of chapters, is as follows. Section 1 deals with maternal anatomy, physiology, fetal growth, and development. The author inculcates the concept of evidence-based medicine in the first chapter giving level of evidence and has used it throughout the text which is a great strength of this book. There are chapters on physiology of reproduction, placenta, fetal membranes, and amniotic fluid with plenty of colored and easy-to-understand diagrams and figures. There is a chapter on the fetal physiology. All the physiological and endocrine changes during pregnancy are discussed in detail in the next two chapters. There is a chapter on diagnosis of pregnancy giving details of various methods of the same. There are two chapters on fetus in utero and maternal pelvis and fetal head, giving details of various diameters of maternal pelvis and fetal head in different presentation and positions which are important for understanding normal and abnormal labor.
Section 2 deals with antenatal care including prenatal diagnosis and therapy. There is a chapter on antenatal care and counseling giving details of various visits to hospital during pregnancy, various investigations, and prescriptions to a normal pregnant woman. There is a chapter on vomiting in pregnancy. Chapter 13 is a big chapter and contains three parts: the first part, Miscarriage, giving details of all types of abortions, including induced abortion, MTP act, and medical abortion. There is the second part on various types of ectopic pregnancy including their management which includes medical, conservative, minimally invasive, and surgical management of ectopic pregnancy. There is the third part on gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD), in reasonable details. Chapter 14 deals with genetics, fetal malformations, prenatal diagnosis, fetal therapy, teratology, drugs during pregnancy, and lactation, and gives details of all the non-invasive and invasive tests for prenatal diagnosis. There is good detail of various drugs including FDA classification during pregnancy for better understanding. There is a chapter on antepartum assessment of fetal wellbeing.
Section 3 deals with normal labor and has four chapters. Chapter 16 gives complete details of normal labor and delivery including stages of labor, partograph, mechanism, and management of labor and active management of labor. There are chapters on intrapartum fetal monitoring, induction of labor, and obstetrics analgesia and anesthesia. Section 4 deals with abnormal labor and has chapters like abnormal uterine action in labor, abnormal labor patterns, prolonged and obstructed labor, and contracted pelvis. There is a detailed chapter (Chapter 23) on malpositions and malpresentations giving details of occipito-posterior position, face and brow presentation, transverse lie, breech presentation, shoulder dystocia, prolapse of umbilical cord, and compound presentation. It is written in easy-to-understand manner with plenty of good diagrams and figures. There are chapters on abnormalities of placenta, complications of third stage of labor, and injuries to birth canal. Section 5 is Neonatology section written by Dr. Ramesh Agarwal and Dr. M. Jeeva Sankar, from Neonatology department of AIIMS with two chapters on care of normal neonate and diseases and injuries of fetus and newborn with good pictures and flow charts. Section 6 deals with normal and abnormal peurperium with two chapters in reasonable details. Section 7 deals with antepartum haemorrhage, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, multiple pregnancies, preterm labor, and fetal growth restriction. The author has given all latest developments in all the chapters.
Section 8 is a big section incorporating medical, surgical, gynecological, and neoplastic conditions during pregnancy. There is a full detailed chapter on medical disorders containing hematological disorders, heart diseases, diabetes, thyroid disorders, respiratory diseases, renal diseases, liver disorders, neurological and psychiatric disorders, connective tissue disorders, and dermatological disorders during pregnancy. There is a chapter on infections and infestations during pregnancy. I was particularly impressed by the latest updated chapter on HIV in pregnancy containing all the latest guidelines and options (option B? or B) which are not found in most textbooks.
Section 9 contains special conditions with chapters on Rh negative pregnancy, pregnancy with previous caesarean delivery, bad obstetrics history, traumatic condition, and shock in obstetrics.
Section 10 contains operative obstetrics with details of all operative procedures including early pregnancy operations, obstetrics forceps and ventouse, episiotomy, destructive operations, and cesarean delivery and miscellaneous operations. The chapter on cesarean delivery is very impressive with plenty of good pictures and is very easy to understand. There is section 11 on contraception giving all methods of contraception in great detail.
The inclusion of WHO eligibility criteria at undergraduate level (not mentioned in most undergraduate books) speaks volumes of the hard work the author has put in during the preparation of this book.
Section 12 deals with miscellaneous and current topics and has chapters on audit, medico-legal aspects, PNDT Act, communications, biomedical waste management, safe motherhood, maternal and perinatal mortality, and imaging in obstetrics.
There is a separate chapter on obstetric instruments, specimens, drugs, spots, and laboratory test with plenty of quality and informative pictures to help better preparation of students for practical examination. This chapter will really benefit all undergraduate and postgraduate students for their practical examination as almost everything which is asked in viva voce is given here. There is a separate chapter on theory and practical examination in obstetrics giving details of theory paper, practical examination, sample paper, and sample cases in obstetrics with details of marks distribution in MBBS, DGO, DNB, and MD examinations as an easy guidance to the students in preparing for the theory and practical examination.
I firmly believe that this Textbook of Obstetrics by Professor Sharma will become a main source of reading for the trainees in Obstetrics as well as other allied specialties and a reference book for the practicing obstetricians.
Conflict of interest I have reviewed the Textbook of Obstetrics by Professor J B Sharma impartially and with the best interests of the readers. I have no conflicts of interest.
