Anaesthesia services in developing countries are often limited due to a shortage of basic facilities, equipment and drugs, as well as a lack of personnel and proper training. Anaesthesia services for obstetric procedures pose a particular problem in developing countries, where high rates of anaesthesia-related complications and fetal/maternal mortality are seen in connection with otherwise common procedures such as caesarean section. This concise and practical pocketbook covers the basic principles of obstetric anaesthesia with a special emphasis on the unique challenges of service delivery in the developing world. The book will be useful for a range of practitioners in developing countries including anaesthetists, trainees, nurse anaesthetists, and district hospital doctors.
1. Setting up a maternity anaesthetic service ; 2. Maternal physiology and pathophysiology ; 3. Pharmacology ; 4. Monitoring the mother ; 5. Basic principles of obstetric anaesthesia ; 6. Pain relief in labour ; 7. Spinal anaesthesia ; 8. Epidural anaesthesia ; 9. Complications of regional anaesthesia ; 10. Other local anaesthetic techniques ; 11. Post delivery ; 12. General anaesthesia ; 13. Complications of general anaesthesia ; 14. Pre-existing disease ; 15. The sick mother ; 16. Pre-eclampsia ; 17. Obstetric haemorrhage ; 18. Embolic disease ; 19. Anaesthesia and analgesia for specific obstetric conditions ; 20. Intrauterine fetal resuscitation and newborn resuscitation
