This paper draws on Card’s discussions of moral luck to consider the complicated moral life of people—described as pessimists—who accept the heavy knowledge of the predictability of the bad moral luck of oppression. The potential threat to ethics posed by this knowledge can be overcome by the pessimist whose resistance to oppression, even in the absence of hope, expresses a sense of still havin...

Early fetal echocardiography (EFEC) is a fetal cardiac ultrasound analysis performed between the 12th and 16th week of pregnancy (compared with the usual 18-22 weeks). In the last 10 years, the introduction of “aneuploidy sonographic markers” in screening for cardiac defects has led to a shift from late second to end of the first trimester or beginning of the second trimester of pregnancy for s...

OBJECTIVES The study aimed to identify the effects of maternal tobacco consumption during pregnancy and other factors on birth outcomes and obstetric complications in Karachi, Pakistan. DESIGN A multicentre hospital-based case-control study. SETTING Four leading maternity hospitals of Karachi. PARTICIPANTS A random sample of 1275 women coming to the gynaecology and obstetric department of...

This book is the result of an attempt to understand and explain the reaction of women to the pain of childbirth. The author achieves his goal wonderfully! The early history or obstetric anesthesia is explained in marvelous detail, with Simpson, Snow, Meigs, Channing, Queen Victoria, etc. It was the Queen who said "What a blessing she had chloroform," referring to her daughter Victoria's first o...

OBJECTIVE Sticky platelet syndrome (SPS) is an inherited condition that leads to arterial and venous thrombosis. There is scant information about the association between SPS and obstetric complications. This study aimed to assess the relationship between SPS and fetal loss at a single institution. MATERIALS AND METHODS The obstetric histories of all consecutive female patients prospectively s...

OBJECTIVE We examined obstetric and fetal/neonatal outcomes in women with a history of recurrent miscarriage. METHODS We reviewed the obstetric records of all 5,829 nulliparous pregnant women who delivered at #8805;14 weeks' gestation from 2008 through 2013 at our perinatal center. Of these women, 74 had a history of recurrent miscarriage (1.3%). The control population consisted of 4,176 null...

Information often comes as a mix of good and bad news, prompting the question, "Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" In such cases, news-givers and news-recipients differ in their concerns and considerations, thus creating an obstacle to ideal communication. In three studies, we examined order preferences of news-givers and news-recipients and the consequences of these preferences....

OBJECTIVE To explore patient's perspectives and expectations from physicians with respect to breaking of bad news. METHODS A cross-sectional survey was carried out in the Community Health Centre of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Pakistan. All consenting individuals from 18 to 60 years of age were interviewed on the basis of a structured, pre-tested questionnaire. RESULTS The response ...