Doha: A team of anesthesiologists from Hamad Medical Corporation’s Women’s Wellness and Research Center (WWRC) have published a textbook entitled, “Quick Hits in Obstetric Anesthesia”, which features chapters describing the clinical situations that obstetric anesthesiologists would typically encounter while working with pregnant patients.
Six members of staff from WWRC contributed three of the 73 chapters with two authors contributing one chapter each. The staff members are: Dr Mitko Kocarev, Senior Consultant in Anesthesia, WWRC, Dr Fatima Khatoon, Dr Amber Naz, Dr Umar Mushtaq, Dr Sikha Shastham Valappil, all associate consultants in anesthesia at WWRC, and Dr Muhammad Waseem Athar, Consultant in Anesthesiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas, USA. Dr Roshan Fernando, Senior Consultant in Anesthesia, WWRC is the Chief Editor of the textbook.
Dr. Fernando explained that he was commissioned by Springer Nature, Europe to write a concise textbook for practicing obstetric anesthetic doctors of all grades so that they could refer quickly to it when they wanted further information about clinical problems they encountered. “The book, which has just been published this February, has 73 chapters including one on pregnant patients with Covid-19 and other topics ranging from common to rare clinical situations,” Dr. Fernando mentioned.
Dr. Hilal Amin Al Rifai, Medical Director and Acting Chief Executive Officer of WWRC, commended the team for contributing to the book. “We are really delighted that our anesthesiology staff at WWRC continue to record key achievements in the field of healthcare, particularly in medical education. There is no doubt that this book will be very useful to all practicing and aspiring obstetric anesthetic doctors across all our maternity facilities in Qatar and the world at large.”
Dr. Mohammed Hilani, Acting Chairman of Anesthesiology said: “This book is part of the continuing work of the Anesthesiology Department in the field of medical education in line with the commitment of HMC to health, education as well as research. We hope that this international textbook from our very own department will facilitate every physician’s understanding of the complexity associated with practicing obstetric anesthesia knowing that obstetric anesthesiologists around the world care for not one but two patients during each and every delivery.”
In a foreword written for the book by Professor Brendan Carvalho, Chief of Division of Obstetric Anesthesia within the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, California, USA, stated: “Quick Hits in Obstetric Anesthesia is not only aimed at novice obstetric anesthetists but is also intended for use as a quick reference guide by all grades of anesthetists. The information in the book is clearly presented and summarizes the management of emergency situations and common problems which are encountered while working with pregnant patients. Different anesthetic “recipes” and management strategies are presented for common obstetric procedures in addition to trouble-shooting chapters and ‘what to do lists’ for frequently encountered dilemmas.”
He added that “Quick Hits in Obstetric Anesthesia” includes chapters which are written by numerous leading international experts in the field of obstetric anesthesia, covering a spectrum of antenatal and postpartum situations when the input of obstetric anesthetists to multidisciplinary team working is key to ensuring excellent patient outcomes”.
