[Obstetric-gynecologic problems in the developing countries]

The integrated health programmes in the developing countries give priority to the improvement of women's living conditions and of maternal and child health medical attention. The Authors, as specialists in Obstetrics and Gynecology active in an African country, present the most frequent pathological situations which, in their experience, can lead to the death of the pregnant woman. The social reality of the underdeveloped world and the high Total Fertility rates, due partly to the absence of a contraceptive culture, too often see the woman of reproductive age threatened by the complication deriving from abortion, ectopic pregnancy and labour. The obstetrician needs to know how to solve these emergencies and how to train the local personnel in order to guarantee as much as he can the essential obstetrical functions.