Obstetrics and gynaecology is the medical specialty that encompasses the two subspecialties of obstetrics and gynaecology. The specialization is an important part of care for women's health.
Gynaecology or gynecology is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area of obstetrics and gynaecology (OB-GYN).
The International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, usually just FIGO ("fee'go") as the acronym of its French name Fédération Internationale de Gynécologie et d'Obstétrique, is a worldwide non-governmental organisation representing obstetricians and gynaecologists in over one hundred territories. It was founded on 26 July 1954 in Geneva, Switzerland, to "promote the well-being of women and to raise the standard of practice in obstetrics and gynaecology". Membership is currently composed of 132 professional societies of obstetricians and gynaecologists worldwide.
Kelsey Atangamuerimo Harrison is an emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynaecology and former vice-chancellor of University of Port Harcourt, who contributed immensely to studies of maternal health, especially during pregnancy. As a researcher at the University of Ibadan, he mapped out the effects of severe anaemia on the mother and her baby, and established the safety of treating gross anaemia by packed cell transfusion combined with rapidly acting diuretic. He was also part of a group that discovered the dangerous threat posed by sickle cell disease to maternal and fetal lives among Africans. In Zaria, the results of the work of a team he led, became the most powerful boost to international advocacy for better maternal and perinatal health in developing countries. Now retired, his life is summed up thus - an obstetrician and gynaecologist, a teacher and trainer, medical academic, university administrator, a sort of social activist, and a cricket and music fan.
Dame Lesley Regan is a British gynaecologist, professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Imperial College London and Honorary Consultant at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust at St Mary's Hospital. She was the president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists from 2016 to 2019 – only the second woman to ever hold this role and the first in sixty-four years.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to obstetrics:
John William Winston Studd was a British gynaecologist and an academic and medical historian.
Alka Kriplani is an Indian gynecologist,medical writer and academic, known for her contributions to the fields of Reproductive Endocrinology and Gynaecological Endoscopy. She was professor and the Head of the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. A recipient of the Dr. B. C. Roy Award in 2007, she was honoured by the Government of India in 2015 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.
Adejoke Bolanle Ayoola is a Nigerian-American academic and nursing researcher at Calvin University.
Cynthia Margaret Farquhar is the Postgraduate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Auckland. Within the Cochrane Collaboration, she is the Co-ordinating Editor of Cochrane Gynaecology and Fertility. Farquhar has over 200 published papers, with a focus on women's reproductive and sexual health.
Friday OkonofuaFAS is a Nigerian professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics. He is the pioneer Vice Chancellor of Ondo State University of Medical Sciences and founder of Women Health and Action Research Centre, a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Benin City, that focuses on promoting female reproductive research.
Dr. Abayomi Ajayi is a Nigerian obstetrician/gynecologist.
Hein Odendaal is a South African medical doctor and internationally recognised specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Alastair Harvey MacLennan,, MB ChB, MD, FRCOG, FRANZCOG is a Scottish-Australian physician, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology, medical researcher, and a community health advocate. He studied and practised medicine in Glasgow, Chicago, and Oxford before moving to Australia in 1977 to take up a position at the University of Adelaide, where he went on to become the Professor and Head of the Discipline of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2006. He retired from his full-time academic position in 2013, and he is now Emeritus Professor of Medicine. He leads research projects at the Robinson Research Institute, and he is Head of the university's Cerebral Palsy Research Group.
Charles Richard Whitfield FRCOG, FRCP(G) was a Northern Irish obstetrician and gynaecologist who was a pioneer of maternal-fetal (perinatal) medicine. His primary interest was in fetal medicine, a branch of obstetrics and gynaecology that focuses on the assessment of the development, growth and health of the baby in the womb. He was also an early proponent of subspecialisation within the fields of obstetrics and gynaecology, a practice that is common today.
Folasade Tolulope Ogunsola OON(born 1958) is a Nigerian professor of medical microbiology, and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos. She specializes in disease control, particularly HIV/AIDS. Ogunsola was provost of College of Medicine, University of Lagos and is reputed as being the first woman to occupy the position. She was also the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the institution between 2017 and 2021. She was acting vice chancellor of the University of Lagos for a short period in 2020 when the university was plunged into crisis as a result of the removal of the Vice Chancellor by the University Council.
Professor Jane Norman MD, MB ChB, CCT, MRCOG, FRCOG, FRCP Edin, F Med Sci, FRSE is an academic and physician. She was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Bristol in 2019, and Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham in December 2022.
Duru Shah is a Mumbai-based gynaecologist academic and women activist. She is the Founder President of the PCOS Society, India and a promoter of adolescent girls and women's health and infertility in India. Shah is also the promoter of Metropolis Healthcare Ltd. She is also a Consultant ObGyn.: Breach Candy Hospital, Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai.
Annettee Olivia Nakimuli is a Ugandan obstetrician, gynecologist, medical researcher, academic and academic administrator. Since 17 February 2021, she serves as the Dean of Makerere University School of Medicine, the oldest medical school in East Africa. She concurrently serves as the Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the same medical school, a role she has served in since 2016. She is also the President of the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Liona Poon is an obstetrician-gynaecologist with clinical research interests devoted to improving women's and children's health. Poon is currently the Chairperson of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and a visiting professor at the Department of Women and Children's Health, King's College London.
