Book Reviews

Abstract

If its title is anything to go by, this sounds like the sort of book that should be on everyone's bookshelf. Its authors are well known academics, and the book has an excellent pedigree, having started life as an appendix to the textbook High Risk Pregnancy — Management Options by the same authors. However, midwives should approach the book with caution and may well find themselves disappointed with the content, much of which is of academic interest only. This is not to say that the book is of no use — the section on haematology, for example, is very comprehensive and well set out. However, much of the information contained in the book is based on studies too small to be meaningful. For example, I would particularly question the inclusion of a study on adrenocorticotrohpic hormone levels in pregnancy based on results obtained from only four women. A further detraction is that many of the values are presented in graphic rather than tabular form and, unfortunately, the graphs are too small and try to convey too much information to be easily read.