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A 25-year old Illinois woman delivered a baby by cesarean. During the procedure a laparotomy pad was left inside her abdomen. She subsequently experienced abdominal pain, bleeding, and diarrhea, and was readmitted to the hospital 4 months after the cesarean delivery. A CT scan revealed the laparotomy pad. Surgery was performed to remove the pad and an abscess that had formed around it. The patient was hospitalized for a week and also was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. The woman sued those involved with the delivery, claiming that the retained pad caused or contributed to her ulcerative colitis and that she would require colon removal surgery in the future.

The first column in this series reviewed standard electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) definitions and categories proposed by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

Cancer survivors are more likely than their healthy counterparts to be currentsmokers, to rate their overall health as "poor," and to report less participation in moderate to strenuous exercise according to the results of a study from the Mayo Clinic.

More than one third of women in the United States will experience some form of intimate partner violence (IPV) in their lifetime. The consequences of IPV can be lifelong and include emotional trauma, long-term physical impairment, chronic health problems, and even death.

Do you Screen all New Mothers for Postpartum Depression?

Our patient presents with 6 weeks of amenorrhea. What's your diagnosis?

While tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) is and single-incision mini-sling result in similar subjective cure rates for the treatment of stress urinary incontinence, the mini-sling is still inferior, according to a randomized study published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective tool in reducing menopause-related symptoms in women with a history of breast cancer, according to new research published in The Lancet Oncology.

Should employers be required to provide insurance that includes free contraceptive coverage?

Bipolar radiofrequency endometrial ablation is more effective than hydrothermablation in the treatment of menorrhagia at five years, according to research published in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Do you provide your patients with online access to test results and other information?

Ulipristal is a safe and effective option for women with uterine fibroids, according to two new studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In both studies, the oral selective progesterone receptor modulator was well-tolerated, rapidly reduced excessive bleeding, and decreased the size of uterine fibroids.

Overweight women with diabetes can cut their risk of developing urinary incontinence (UI) by shedding 5% to 10% of their body weight or as little as 15 lbs (7.7 kg), according to findings from the Look AHEAD trial, a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial of overweight and obese individuals with type 2 diabetes.

A woman’s diet before pregnancy can affect her risk of developing gestational diabetes, according to researchers from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).

There is no association between pre-pregnancy LEEP and preterm birth or pregnancy loss before 20 weeks, according to a 7-year multicenter cohort study presented at the Society for Maternal and Fetal Medicine's Annual Meeting. The study, by George A. Macones, MD, contradicts earlier findings.

In a study of nearly 4,500 women, chromosonal microarray (CMA) was as effective at identifying aneuploidy as karyotyping.

You have a patient with recurrent vaginal candidiasis and have tried everything you can think of!

There are a variety of complications that can occur during laparoscopic surgery. In this tutorial learn some of the complications and tips to avoid them.

Laparoscopic staging of uterine cancer is associated with only a small increased risk of recurrence, according to a new study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Our patient underwent a medical abortion at 5 weeks. What are the possible diagnoses for these images?

Oral contraceptives have long been considered an option for relieving symptoms of dysmenorrhea, but a 2009 Cochrane review cast doubt on that claim. Now, a new study out of Sweden offers contradictory evidence.

The live birth rate, per implanted embryo, is higher in twin than in singleton pregnancies resulting from assisted conception (83 vs 76%, respectively) because embryos that might otherwise fail as singletons survive when implanted next to healthy siblings, according to a Spanish study.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is glucose intolerance with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. African American, Hispanic, and Native American women have a higher incidence of GDM, although studies indicate that socioeconomic status may be more strongly associated with GDM than race or ethnicity.

US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by refusing to allow emergency contraceptive Plan B One-Step to be sold over the counter to women younger than 16. It is the first time a health secretary has ever overruled the FDA.

Children born just moderately premature (between 32 and 35 weeks' gestation) are about 4 times as likely as term-born infants to demonstate behavioral and emotional problems by the age of 4 years, according to a study from the Netherlands.

The parents alleged that there was no medical indication for induction of labor and that informed consent had not been obtained; specifically, that they were not informed tht induced labor increases the risk of tachysystole, failure to progress, and the risk of caesarean delivery.

Your October editorial titled "Training system-based physicians' (Contemporary OB/GYN. 2011; 56(19):8-12) evoked some mixed reactions. Although I agree with many of your comments, I was disappointed in the black-and-white image you paint for your students and because nowhere in your address do you mention the humanistic aspect of medicine. Words such as "caring for," "empathy," "sympathy," and "compassion" are conspicuously absent.

Although the current literature on management and outcomes of pregnancy among women with spinal cord injury (SCI) is limited, available evidence suggests that most gravidas with SCI will experience few serious complications of pregnancy and deliver healthy infants.

Many in the world are envious of our seemingly inexhaustible national healthcare resources. We have no long waits for surgery, and our hospitals rival their best hotels. To many foreigners US healthcare appears to be a "land of plenty." But for American obstetricians the first blemish in this idyllic facade appeared in the late 1990s when a serious shortage of betamethasone forced many of us to think critically about the use of other agents to accelerate fetal lung maturity and consider rationing our short supply.

Younger women have gaps in fertility knowledge; Few IVF patients with high-quality embryos choose eSET; Women are waiting too long to freeze their eggs; 'Personhood' legislation could hinder IVF