Ebook: Proactive support of labor: the challenge of normal childbirth

Foreword; 1. General introduction; Part I.A Wake-Up Call: 2. Medical excess in normal childbirth; 3. Iatrogenic causes of failed labors; 4. Harmful birth care practices; 5. Destructive territorial disputes; 6. Self-sustaining mechanisms; Part II. Back to Basics: 7. Lessons from nature; 8. Elementary biophysics of birth; 9. First stage labor revisited; 10. Second stage labor redefined; 11. Definitions and verbal precision; Part III. Proactive Support of Labor: 12. Introductory synopsis; 13. Nulliparous versus parous labor; 14. Diagnosis of labor; 15. Prevention of long labor; 16. Personal continuity and continuous support; 17. Amniotomy and oxytocin; 18. Labor pain in broader perspective; 19. Prelabor preparation; 20. Medical pain relief revisited; 21. Dynamic dystocia unraveled; 22. Mechanical birth obstruction; 23. Curtailed use of induction; 24. Intrapartum care of fetus; 25. Prevention of litigation; 26. Organizational reforms; 27. Continual audit and feedback; 28. Quality assessment; 29. Hospital statistics; 30. Sum of the parts