Obstetric Medicine: The Medicine of Pregnancy celebrates its sixth birthday with the publication of the September 2014 issue. From its inception, we have aimed to improve communication about the science and practice of medical disorders of pregnancy through sharing cases, research and topic reviews of relevance to the large range of clinicians practising in the field of Obstetric Medicine. The overwhelmingly positive feedback we have received indicates that the work of our authors, peer reviewers, editors and publishers has enhanced knowledge of Obstetric Medicine throughout the world.
However, looking at the geographical source of our submissions, there are large areas of the globe who have not shared this experience. Similarly, reviewing the country of origin of those attending Obstetric Medicine conferences and courses, many countries are not represented. Yet many of the conditions we manage everyday are endemic to all women and in fact their prevalence is greatest in the regions where there appear to be no specialised Obstetric Physicians.
The local and International Societies of Obstetric Medicine have created an excellent base for the development of the specialty in those countries in which they exist. As a regular presenter at such conferences, my impression is that the baseline knowledge of medical disorders of pregnancy has been increasing over the last two decades from a time when a few pioneering physicians recognised the need for this specialty. The challenge now is to reach out to clinicians caring for women with medical disorders of pregnancy who do not have access to obstetric physicians and have not had this specialised training. The upcoming joint Scientific meeting of ISOM and NASOM in New Orleans will be the seventh ISOM meeting and provides an excellent opportunity to consider how we take the next step towards globalisation of our Specialty.
In this month’s issue, the case reports reflect some of the unusual and complex situations faced by obstetric physicians. They include familial partial lipodystrophy, multiple endocrine neoplasia Type I, ganglioneuroblastoma, Turner syndrome and broad complex tachycardia. Each is rare with very little in the existing literature to guide in their management. Even if you don’t see these conditions again, the authors’ approach to managing these cases can be very informative. Our review articles address much more common conditions – renal stones and postpartum infection. Both of these are a potential cause of significant maternal and perinatal morbidity, and even mortality, and are of importance to us all.