Category: Obstetrics

Salute to the Pōhutukawa and the West Coast.

It’s Christmas. I’m touring the north Island with family in tow.  Blooming pōhutukawa line the Coromandel coastline.  I’m curious about its evolution, uniquely suited to the landscape, shaped by millennia of slow and steady adaptations.  Courageously reaching for the coral sea. The New Zealand Christmas tree.  I wondered how many versions of the Christmas tree...

Does induction of labour prevent shoulder dystocia?

 Early IOL for women with suspected fetal macrosomia,who do not have gestational diabetes,does not improve either maternal or fetal outcome.(Evid level 4) In women with gestational diabetes, the incidence of SD is reduced with early IOL.(Evid level 2+) The NICE diabetes guideline recommends that pregnant women with diabetes who...

Should we be giving our women steroids prior to elective caesarean section?

Delivery by elective caesarean section at less than 39+0 weeks of gestation can lead to respiratory morbidity in neonates, requiring admission to the neonatal intensive care unit A recent retrospective cohort study showed that, compared with elective caesarean section births at 39+0 weeks of gestation, births at 37+0 weeks...