The underlying theme of Maternity & Women's Health Care, 8e is how to take care of a woman of childbearing age in today's society. The book is designed to meet the needs of today's students through a clear, readable writing style and a more focused content presentation. Content carefully integrates the importance of understanding family, culture, and health promotion into the continuum of care. Maternity & Women's Health Care has the most comprehensive coverage of maternal, newborn, and women's health nursing care than any other text on the market. Incorporates Evidence-Based Practice as summarized in the Cochrane Pregnancy & Childbirth Database, which is a collection of research findings that confirm effective practices or identify practices that have unknown, ineffective, or harmful effects. Women's health content provides a thorough understanding of health promotion and disease prevention, common health concerns, and care of common conditions in women throughout the childbearing years. Health promotion and prevention is integrated throughout to maintain a focus on wellness. Family content is introduced in Chapter 2 and then incorporated in the pregnancy, labor and birth, postpartum, and newborn chapters to emphasize the importance of including the family in the continuum of care. Emphasizes Care Management throughout by focusing on the use of the nursing process and Nursing Plans of Care and on collaborative care management by other means, such as Care Paths. Teaching for Self-Care boxes emphasize guidelines for the client to practice self-care and transfer information from the hospital to the home. Thoroughly updated Genetics chapter addresses issues of concern in both obstetrics and women's health and provides new information on genetic transmission, the Human Genome Project, and the role of the nurse in genetics. English/Spanish Guidelines boxes provide the student with a handy reference for communicating when teaching clients and families. Culture content is integrated throughout to stress the importance of assessing for and understanding cultural variations when providing care. Care of the childbearing adolescent is integrated throughout to provide important age related considerations within each corresponding content area. Nurse Alert boxes highlight critical information for the nurse. Medication Guides offer information about the most common drugs. A new chapter, Care of the Newborn at Home, contains information about caring for the newborn at home, including signs of complications, home phototherapy, developmental care, and nutrition and feeding. Resources integrated by chapter provide a handy reference for additional study. UNIQUE! Marginal icons indicating alternative and complementary therapies content alerts the student to useful information on alternatives to traditional care techniques.