Book excerpt: Contributing content from known experts in the field of maternal and women's health. Unfolding case studies help you apply what you've learned to practice. Safety checks integrated into the content help you develop competencies related to safe nursing practice. Chapter summaries appear at the end of each chapter and help you review core content in each chapter while on the go. Patient teaching boxes provide teaching guidelines, including communication guides, directed at patients and families. Critical to Remember boxes highlight and summarize need-to-know information. Application of Nursing Process sections help you apply the nursing process to clinical situations. Updated! Drug guides list important indications, adverse reactions, and nursing considerations for the most commonly used medications. Procedure boxes provide clear instructions for performing common maternity skills with rationales for each step. UNIQUE! Therapeutic Communications boxes present realistic nurse-patient dialogues, identifying communication techniques and showing ways to respond when encountering communication blocks. Knowledge Check helps you assess your mastery of key content. Glossary provides definitions of all key terms. NEW! Critical Care Obstetrics chapter features the latest information on this vital topic. NEW! Clinical judgment content and questions for the Next Generation NCLEX® help you prepare for the exam and clinical practice.