Reviews (4)

Oral Health and Pregnancy Outcomes
The link between oral health and pregnancy outcomes has become an important focus in the women's health community over the past decade. It is clear that poor oral hygiene and a lack of oral health may contribute to morbidity during the childbearing year. With her book, Pregnancy and Oral Health, Sheila Wolf offers those interested in optimizing their health a valuable tool. This book is accessible, informative and motivating and clearly outlines simple behaviors that will improve one's oral health. As a nurse-midwife serving women throughout their life span, I found this book's content as pertinent to providers of obstetric care as it is to our clients.

Book saved my gums, my teeth, and maybe even my life
Mama Gums and her immensely readable book most certainly saved my gums, my teeth, and maybe even my life. This entertaining book and its essential oral-care techniques are for everyone -- men and women, boys and girls, pregnant and non-pregnant, and especially dental professionals (who need to read it the most).

Sheila's book has all the information your dental professionals should give you but don't. Believe me, I speak from experience! After years of conscientiously soliciting and scrupulously following the "brush, floss, and regular professional cleanings" advice of my general dentist and first periodontist, I was rewarded with war-zone style bleeding gums at every cleaning, deep periodontal pockets, receding gums, and significant bone loss. My first periodontist told me my only alternative was extensive gum surgery. The periodontist whose second opinion I sought wanted to do even more extensive gum surgery. Yikes, yikes, and double yikes! I was paralyzed with fear.

My friend introduced me to Sheila via telephone and loaned me a copy of her warm, witty, and scientifically sound but completely understandable book. I read Sheila's book cover to cover and immediately began following her oral-care regimen. I also ordered several more copies for my friends, my family, and myself.

This week, I had the best dental checkup of my life -- no bleeding, no tartar buildup, significantly reduced periodontal pockets, tight healthy gum tissue, and one very happy camper. Sheila's book and my willingness to follow it made all the difference, taking me from oral-health hell to oral-health heaven in less than six months.

You literally can't live without this book, so buy it, follow it, and enjoy the results. You, too, will thank Mama Gums.

Succinct and so helpful!
This is my new official baby shower gift. The book is chock-full of information and tips that you can use right now whether you're expecting or not. It's a real eye-opener! Among other things, it shows you exactly how you *should* brush your teeth (I've been doing it wrong all these years), what kind of toothbrush, floss, and irrigation system to use, why pregnant women get "pregnancy gingivitis" and how to solve it, what baking soda does for your gums, how to tell if you have bad breath and what might be causing it...

It's a quick read, not slowed down by any unneccesary information, and I felt like I'd gotten a thorough education on proper oral hygeine by the time I was through, which no dentist has ever given me before. I had heard that gum infections (which are very common) can put you at risk for all sorts of other problems (heart attack and stroke, for example), but I never knew why, and I never knew that oral infections put pregnancies in danger. This book might just save lives... who would have guessed?

A great gift for the mom-to-be in your life. Especially if you like her teeth. ;)

--Jenna Glatzer, author of Outwitting Writer's Block and Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer

Eye-opening MUST read!
Excellent! This book should be given to all new OB patients in their welcome packet. It sure opened my eyes to the simple way to properly care for my mouth and the horrors that can happen if I don't know how. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

THAT'S MY FATHER!!!
I first read the book when I was four. I am now, at the age of ninteen, a fully qualified obstrician/gynecologist, all because of this book. I have now, of course, read this several times, but it is still like reading it for the first time. As the title implies, my father is David Olive, the editor of this book. I fully recommend this book to anyone who is remotely interested in a profession as a gynecologist.

Your medical library is not complete without this book!
A comprehensive book, essential to every Ob-Gyn resident or clinician. Takes you from the basics of anatomy and physiology of the female reproductive tract to the management of complicated gynecologic conditions. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Wonderful information
I use this book when teaching my childbirth classes. Excellent information presented in plain english. There is a video, too. Rahima is a gentle spirit and a fantastic teacher.

Extremly educational
I used this book to help educate myself and my husband for an unassited home delivery. It discusses homebirth with a midwife as well as hospital birth and the various aspects of both. How to take responsiblity for your birth and make sure that you have the birth experience you deserve. It goes over all aspects of birth from emotional to physical and how to prepare yourself for the optimum experience. The book throughly discusses the actuall birth and what to expect. It even covers breech birth and how a breech baby can be born vaginally. I would highly recommend this book to anyone serious about thier birth experience.

great book
Great book to read and especially helpful in the last three months! this book helped me have a drug-free, natural, empowered birth experience!

Great Resource for ALL pregnant women
I use this book to teach my childbirth classes and the couples always end up buying the book to keep. I teach couples that are birthing at the hospital and at home. Both find the information very useful and readable. I trained to be a midwife with the author-she is one of the most kind, gentle and wise women I know.

A superb resource for those seeking natural childbirth
While the content of this book spans all common birth locations from hospitals to home, it really focuses on educating thoroughly and taking responsibility for your own birth experience. Includes lots of good tips on labor management and is very helpful for those considering home birth. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

overview of different types of midwives & their diversity
As a woman who knew almost nothing about the practice of midwifery, I found this a very interesting and quick read. Short chapters devoted to one midwife describe why they wanted to become a midwife, what type of midwife they are, their views and sometimes about the politics or legal issues of midwifery. Despite having read magazine articles on midwifery, I learned things from this book that I've not seen elsewhere. It is also full of affirmations that birth is normal and that women's bodies are designed for a drug free birth--something not seen written about too often. I have one child who was born in a hospital and had a heavy medical intervention birth which was not the outcome that I had hoped for. I thought I had planned well to avoid medical interventions. The knowledge I gained from this book prompted me to seek midwifery care for my current pregnancy. I wanted to learn more about midwifery in general and this was a fun and sometimes disturbing read. It helped me form some of my own opinions and reaffirmed that my decision to receive different care for my second pregnancy. For me it was a jumping off point to then go read other books which delve more in-depth into the topic of receiving midwifery for prenatal care and birth. I recommend this to anyone who doesn't know much about midwifery and likes to read stories of peoples lives. I especially liked the appendix where a full explanation of the differences between accredition were explained and the mission statements of the midwifery organizations were stated. The short chapters are also easily read in bits and pieces which is necessary when one has a toddler running about. I can't speak as to how experienced midwives or those that already know a lot about the subject would like the book.

Not the inspiring book I was looking for.
I couldn't believe the first story in the book. The writing was awful and the commentary extremely negative and selfish. As an aspiring midwife, I searched between the lines for the inspiration I was looking for. While some of the stories were touching...many were negative and disorganized. I enjoyed Diary of a Midwife a lot more.

Forthright and Disarming.
I was astounded at the diversity within the midwife community. As someone who has had one doctor-assisted hospital childbirth experience (and not a pleasant one at that) I came to this book knowing little of midwives, their craft or their history. This book included stories from midwives in many arenas - home births, hospital births, lay midwives, nurse-midwives, those practicing legally and illegally. While it touched lightly on the politics of midwifery in America and the rivalry between its factions, this book's most telling feature is its focus on the women who choose this field. Chester truly lets them speak their hearts. In all cases their love for bringing life into the world is evident despite their sometimes forthright, pesimistic or negative statements. Each story is accompanied by a beautiful photographic portrait - done by Chester's sister- which displays the subject in her own element and gives visual insight into her personality and situation. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

the best blueprints book ever published!
this is the best of the blue prints books, in my opinion (if you are preparing for the step 2 exam, that is). its not overly detailed, and every answer to the questions i had on the exam were in this book. people had told me to read Hacker and moore.....i couldnt finish that. no use. this is "just right" for the USMLE. its an easy read, and ....basically...is perfect for the step 2! brilliant!(i cant say it enough!) the only other blue prints book worth reading for your step 2 would be the peds one. the rest of them...surgery , med, etc were totally off the point.....did not reflect what was asked on the step at all.

Good During Clerkship
I just completed my OB/GYN clerkship and read the entire book from cover to cover. I thought that it was the best blueprints book. (I've used Peds and Med, but not Surg (which I heard did not have enough detail)). Everyone has different opinions about how much detail they want to read. I did not want to read the Hacker and Moore textbook that our dept gave out on the first day. The attendings certainly thought that blueprints was not enough and that I should be reading more. Personally, I don't need to read 10 to 20 pages on a subject when I really am only going to dedicate a handful of facts to my long term memory. Give me 5 to 10 minutes of good, high-yield material any day. I don't know how I did on the shelf-exam yet, but I felt pretty comfortable afterwards.

I thought the book was great. It is edited very well. There is consistency throughout the chapters. Each little section starts off with a brief definition of the term about to be discussed and a similar format then ensues. I'm not sure exactly why I liked it so much, I think it must be that the amount of depth was just perfect for my taste, and it was not too wordy.

As for Step 2, I think it is a bit long to study. My time frame is 2 weeks of prep. I don't think I can read all of the blueprint type material in that time. I am relying on FirstAid and supplementing with reviewing particular chapters if I feel weak in an area--and doing a bunch of questions.

In short, I would buy the book for the clerkship, but not for USMLE review.

Making a background on OB/GY, so easy...
Very nice review to make a sufficient background.Surprisingly,more details than I've thought.Worth of spending time & money.You can get most of essential details of textbooks without to be bored.With a bit more detail and format quality,it can teach "how an OB/GY notion can be given so easy" to most of editors.It doesn't need any more...

The best review to prepare for USMLE Step 2
This is a "must buy" book for the preparation of USMLE. Since OB/Gyn section in the "First Aid for Step 2" is weak, I have tried multiple review books, but this one is the BEST for USMLE. Although some topics are not described in detail enough (e.g. PCO, pelvic anatomy, etc), most of the high yield topics are very well covered, with lots of nice pictures. Doing many tests with this book aside will help you get a high score on OB/Gyn.

Excellent book for third-year medical students.
This book gives a great overview of OB/GYN. It is helpful for the NBME shelf copies. Not very in-depth, desgined more for review as opposed to reference. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Good review source
Not a stand-alone review, but a great review of high-yield OB/GYN. Good figures and photos. Helped me get the classic presentations down pat before my exam. Definitely did better on my exam because of it.

5 stars all the way!
I loved using cases to review for my step 2 exam because I was burnt out on reading straight text and tired of doing multiple choice questions. The format is simple - read through a case presentation (CC, HPI, PMH, PE, Labs) and guess the condition and how to treat it. The back of the page gives you the answer, which I liked better than the "Underground Vignettes" series, because you can't see the answer until you turn the page. The explanations are easy to understand, thorough and high-yield. A great tool for step 2 review. ... Read more

Book Description

This new atlas is a unique, first-of-its-kind reference, combining detailed pelvic anatomy (shown in actual photographs of fixed and fresh cadaver dissections) and comprehensive coverage of a vast number of gynecologic surgical procedures. These surgical procedures are illustrated by 300 masterful, detailed drawings and 1,200 color photographs. Serial photographs and drawings take the reader step by step through each operative procedure, and offer the highest standard for learning operative technique short of being present in the OR or anatomy lab. ... Read more