Includes appendix, glossary and index.

Contents: Unit one: Foundations: Contemporary issues in maternity and women's health care -- The family and culture -- Ethical issues -- Anatomy and physiology of the reproductive system -- Home care -- Normal Pregnancy: Genetics, conception and fetal development -- Anatomy and physiology of pregnancy -- Maternal and fetal nutrition -- Family dynamics of pregnancy -- Nursing care in the first trimester -- Nursing care in the second trimester -- Nursing care in the third trimester -- Childbirth education -- Normal childbirth: Essential factors and processes of labor -- Pain management -- Fetal monitoring -- First stage of labor -- Second and third stages of labor -- Normal postpartum: Postpartum physiology -- Nursing care during the postpartum period -- Family dynamics after childbirth -- The newborn: Assessment of the newborn -- Nursing care of the newborn -- Newborn nutrition and feeding -- Maternal-newborn home care -- Complications of childbearing: Assessment for risk factors -- Hypertensive disorders in pregnancy -- Immunology and perinatal infections -- Maternal hermorrhagic disorders -- Endocrine and metabolic disorders -- Medical-surgical problems in pregnancy -- Obstetric critical care, hemodynamic monitoring and trauma -- Mental health disorders and substance abuse -- Adolescent secuality, pregnancy and parenthood -- Labor and birth at risk -- Newborn complications: Nursing care of the compromised newborn -- Gestational age and birth weight -- Physiologic alterations in the neonate -- Acquired problems of the neonate -- Loss and grief -- Women's health: Health assessment, screening and prevention -- Experiences and disorders of the menstrual cycle -- Contraception -- Infertility -- Violence against women -- Problems of the breast -- Structural disorders and neoplasms of the reproductive system.