This book is intended to be the definitive Reference Textbook on all aspects of spontaneous preterm labor leading to preterm birth (SPTB). Its scope is necessarily broad, with extensive coverage of the epidemiology, mechanisms, etiology, prediction, prevention, and management of SPTB and up-to-date information on its physical, neurobehavioral, and financial costs. Additional features include sections devoted to an evidence-based approach to SPTB and to future policy, funding, research, and trials. Novel areas covered include the role of the genital tract microbiome and the management of SPTB at the limits of viability. The book closes by addressing ethical and medicolegal aspects and examining the experiences of and support for families of babies born preterm. The authors are multinational and multidisciplinary experts in their fields who are excellently equipped to provide the necessary multifaceted approach to the prediction, prevention, and management of SPTB. This Reference Textbook will be of value to specialist obstetricians, researchers, specialists in training, neonatologists, midwives, neonatal nurses, undergraduates, and members of the general public seeking reliable information.
Introduction to Preterm Birth.- The Importance of Preterm Birth.- The
Epidemiology of Preterm Birth.- Mechanisms of Preterm Labour.- The Etiology
of Preterm Birth.- The Prediction of Preterm Birth.- The Prevention of
Preterm Birth.- The Management of Preterm Labor and Preterm Birth.- An
evidence based approach to the problem of Preterm Birth.- Future Issues.-
Miscellany.
Professor Lamont has more than 38 years experience in the NHS. He qualified at the University of Edinburgh (1977) and trained in Edinburgh, London and Southampton. He became Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Northwick Park Hospital in London (1988), obtained his Doctorate Degree (1989) and has published over 200 research papers. He is the co-editor of a book on Preterm Labour and has written 33 chapters in books edited by others. He has held or currently holds Professorships and other Faculty appointments at Imperial College London, University College London, The Perinatology Research Branch, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Michigan, USA and Institute of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark. He has an international reputation in the field of preterm birth, particularly pertaining to infection and antibiotics in the etiology, prediction and prevention of preterm birth, and is an Official Spokesman for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Professor Lamont is on the editorial board of a number of peer reviewed journals, and referees for a number of Grant-awarding bodies and more than 30 UK and overseas journals. He has given over 130 lectures by invitation in 36 countries in The Americas, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Far East and South-east Asia and has acted as internal and external examiner in Undergraduate and Postgraduate examinations both in the UK and overseas. He has advised Government departments, Royal College study groups and National and International Working Parties on management, research and treatment guidelines. Recently, (2009-2011) he spent 18 months in the USA on Sabbatical as Full Professor at the Perinatology Research Branch of the NICHD, fully funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).
