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 female reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pregnancy and childbirth, thereby 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.
Sir Albert William Liley was a New Zealand medical practitioner, renowned for developing techniques to improve the health of foetuses in utero.
Sir Dugald Baird FRCOG was a British medical doctor and a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology. Baird was most notable and influential in calling for the liberalising of abortion. In his delivery of the Sandoz lecture in November 1961, titled the Fifth Freedom, he advocated for freedom from the tyranny of fertility.
Kyprianos "Kypros" Nicolaides is a Greek Cypriot physician of British citizenship, Professor of Fetal Medicine at King's College Hospital, London. He is one of the pioneers of fetal medicine and his discoveries have revolutionised the field. He was elected to the US National Academy of Medicine in 2020 for 'improving the care of pregnant women worldwide with pioneering rigorous and creative approaches, and making seminal contributions to prenatal diagnosis and every major obstetrical disorder'. This is considered to be one of the highest honours in the fields of health and medicine and recognises individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
Maternal–fetal medicine (MFM), also known as perinatology, is a branch of medicine that focuses on managing health concerns of the mother and fetus prior to, during, and shortly after pregnancy.
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.
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the establishment of high standards of practice in obstetrics and gynaecology and women’s health. The College has a strong focus on women's health advocacy and trains and accredits doctors throughout Australia and New Zealand in the specialties of obstetrics and gynaecology. Its head office is in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1998, with the amalgamation of the Australian and New Zealand organisations.
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:
Sir John Harold Peel was a leading British obstetrician and gynecologist, who was Surgeon-Gynaecologist to Elizabeth II from 1961 to 1973, present at a number of royal births.
Sir John Arthur Stallworthy was a New Zealand-born British obstetrician who was Nuffield Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Oxford from 1967 to 1973.
The National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit (NPEU) is a multi-disciplinary research unit within the Nuffield Department of Population Health at Oxford University. It is located in the Richard Doll Building on the Old Road Campus, in Headington, east Oxford, England.
Jayatissa Nalin Rodrigo was a Sri Lankan Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Surgeon, Medical Teacher and Medical Administrator.,
Andrew Robert Korda is an Australian obstetrician and gynecologist. He is a subspecialist in urogynaecology and in 2011 became a Member of the Order of Australia for his outstanding contributions to medicine.
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.
Geoffrey Victor Price Chamberlain was professor and academic head of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at St George's Hospital, London, editor-in-chief of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG). At one time, he was president of the obstetrics and gynaecology section at the Royal Society of Medicine. He also authored numerous textbooks and journal articles on obstetrics.
Arthur Joseph Wrigley CBE MD FRCS FRCOG, known as Joe, was an English obstetrician and gynaecologist after whom the Wrigley forceps are named.
