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Proper evaluation of a key muscle group can identify pelvic floor myalgia—an often unsuspected but highly treatable cause of insertional dyspareunia and pelvic pain. An expert tells how to proceed with diagnosis and treatment.

Glyburide is as effective as insulin for women with gestational diabetes mellitus and a fasting plasma glucose of 140 mg/dL or less on a 3-hour glucose tolerance test, according to a 4-year retrospective study of a large and diverse managed-care population.

"Early detection offers the best protection" is the primary message this month as breast cancer takes center stage.

While advances in perinatal medicine, including surfactant therapy and increased use of antenatal steroids, have increased the survival rate of extremely low birthweight (ELBW) babies (

A decision on Barr Lab's application for over-the-counter (OTC) status for Plan B has been postponed by the FDA, which previously had promised action by September 1.

No clear health benefit exists for women of any age from removing both ovaries during a hysterectomy for benign reasons, according to a study in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Many readers may be surprised to learn that in 1965, 30 states had laws prohibiting or restricting the sale and/or use of contraceptives.

New technology is in the wings to help detect preterm premature rupture of membranes, improve ultrasound imaging, provide noninvasive prenatal genetic screening, and speed up the diagnosis of intra-amniotic infection.

Ob/gyns rely on medical technology every day to care for their patients. But are you using the same devices as other ob/gyns across the country? A survey commissioned by Contemporary OB/GYN lets you see how you stack up with your colleagues in adopting these tools.

We have the technology to enhance patient safety and care. Now we have to use it.

Can a radical approach that's counter to conventional wisdom cut climbing cesarean rates by inducing labor in patients with risk—before their risk becomes an indication for C/S? It's certainly controversial—but it just might be right!

Can a radical approach that's counter to conventional wisdom cut climbing cesarean rates by inducing labor in patients with risk—before their risk becomes an indication for C/S? It's certainly controversial—but it just might be right!

A new option for long-term contraception is coming soon. Here are the pros and cons on Implanon—an implant that doesn't get into breast milk nor diminish bone mineral density—but can cause irregular and unpredictable bleeding patterns.

A 2004 survey of physicians aged 50 to 65 showed that 64% felt physicians being trained today are not as hard working as those with whom they trained.

Ob/gyns often ask me vague questions about "that large study at NICHD." They want to know if it will be like the old "Collaborative Perinatal Project." Have we chosen the sites? How can they participate? Clearly many physicians and health-care providers either have never heard of the National Children's Study (NCS) or do not know much about it. I hope this column will help change that so the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) can have all the support we need to successfully launch this study. And I welcome your participation in this landmark research endeavor.

The scientific evidence to date-including the authors' recent RCT-says no. Were EC to be available over-the-counter, it would not encourage risky sex nor increase rates of STI.

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced a bill that would require all health plans that cover prescription drugs to include coverage of FDA-approved forms of contraception.

High medical malpractice premiums seem to have a negative affect on the supply of new ob/gyns. That's what researchers from the University of Michigan reported in a recent issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology (June 2005).

One out of three medical residents in Pennsylvania plan to leave the state to practice specifically because of high liability costs, according to a survey conducted by researchers at the Harvard School of Pubic Health.

There's good news for North American women who are at low risk for complications and want to give birth at home.

Hysterectomy does not increase a woman's risk of death, according to a nested cohort study of over 7,000 women in Britain.

While low-dose aspirin may help prevent heart disease, a randomized, placebo-controlled study of almost 40,000 women finds that alternate day use of 100 mg aspirin for an average of 10 years does not lower the risk of total, breast, or colorectal cancer.

Contrary to some previous findings, inhaled nitric oxide therapy does not reduce the risk of death or further lung problems in premature infants weighing less than 1,500 g and should not be administered to this population, according to a study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health. However, a separate prospective, longitudinal study of similarly sick and premature infants found that those treated with nitric oxide at birth had improved neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years of age.

Women who have benign breast disease are more likely to develop breast cancer, but the question that continues to baffle clinicians and researchers is which of these at-risk patients will actually develop a malignancy.

Women with gestational diabetes who receive dietary advice, blood glucose monitoring, and insulin therapy as needed experience significantly fewer serious perinatal complications and seem to have a higher health-related quality of life than women who receive routine care; however, more of them have their labor induced and more of their infants are admitted to the neonatal nursery.