Obstetrics is a branch of medical science that deals with the care of women during pregnancy, childbirth and recuperative period after the delivery.
In other words, this field deals with pregnancy treatments, labor childbirth and pregnancy culminates in the delivery of the healthy baby without impairing the health of the mother.
The art of Obstetrics is very old and it evaluates medical history and health status of the mother. It involves physical examination of mother and it determines uterine sizes and estimates duration of the pregnancy. It helps to detect anomalies during the pregnancy. It also helps to perform prenatal testing during pregnancy. Prenatal testing is essential because it helps to determine treatable health problems in mother and characteristic of the baby. It also helps to determine whether baby has congenital, genetic or chromosomal problems. It helps to determine heart related problems during pregnancy. Therefore, obstetrics may help women to reduce pain of childbirth.
Due to medical advancements in Obstetrics, Ultrasonography has come into picture, which helps doctors and pregnant women to know about the size and condition of their uterine, and it helps doctors to give correct diagnosis procedures. Sometimes Friedman’s chart is used to show in the case of pregnancy and it shows pattern of cervical delation
In early days, all Obstetrics related treatments were done by simple yet experienced hands of trained midwives but in the 16th century some physician grew started to make developments in the same field. The introduction of antiseptic and delivery forceps helped women to deliver baby safely. In addition, after the introduction of anesthesia in the 19th century it was possible to make cesarean section in the uterine.
Obstetrics-Science is a manual process therefore; during pregnancy risks such as infection can always occur.