The first edition of Contemporary Obstetrics and Gynaecology for Developing Countries was published in 2005. Since then, several groundbreaking discoveries and innovations have taken place in the discipline, including within the context of developing countries. The widespread enthusiasm with which the first edition was received, and the opportunity to incorporate the suggestions of numerous readers and stakeholders, justify the publication of this second edition. Many countries in the developing world continue to witness some of the most daunting clinical scenarios relating to reproductive health, obstetrics and gynaecology, and women’s health. It is beyond doubt that these challenges and scenarios require specific and novel methods differing from those applied in other parts of the world. It is therefore necessary and appropriate to devote a specific textbook, and to enable the development of approaches and methodologies to address these challenges.
The editors of this textbook possess rich scientific backgrounds, with years of clinical practice, research, and service delivery in many parts of the developing world. As such, we are conversant with some of the drawbacks in educational delivery and pedagogy which continue to feature in the curricula of many undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In particular, there remains a deficit of skills, clinical orientation, and broad-based practices that limit the ability of graduates to deal with contemporary challenges connected to women’s health and its related components in the region. Some of these deficits include poor linkage of science to service delivery, misalignment of competencies to patient and population needs, poor inter-professional teamwork, narrow technical focus without broader contextual understanding of a practitioner’s role in the health system, the predominance of a hospital-based orientation at the expense of public health (especially with respect to reproductive health and primary health care), and weak understanding of the importance of leadership and business in firmly positioning the discipline within societal infrastructure.
The need to address these deficits has guided the development of this second edition of the textbook. The volume now comprises 70 chapters written by a multi-disciplinary team of 80 authors. Apart from updating information on specific topics in obstetrics and gynaecology, we have expanded the sections on sexual and reproductive health, and gynaecological oncology. These are two key areas that currently generate intense interest in most of the developing world. We have also incorporated chapters that were missing in the first edition, especially those related to research methodology, epidemiology, biostatistics, physical therapy, health management, human rights and the legal context of obstetrics and gynaecology. We believe that these additional topics will provide readers with a single integrated resource which contextualizes the interconnections between different concepts and principles that underpin the practice of the discipline in the region.
In summary, this second edition of Contemporary Obstetrics and Gynaecology for Developing Countries will be an exciting and essential textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate students in obstetrics and gynaecology, public health, health economics, nursing, physical therapy, reproductive health, demography, medical sociology, gender studies, and related fields in many parts of the developing world, especially sub-Saharan Africa. To the best of our knowledge, this textbook is currently the most comprehensive, detailed, and multi-disciplinary of its kind in the region. It will be of use for researchers, programmers, development workers, and women’s advocates in the developed world who have research interests or conduct health promotion activities in the developing world.