5392 Richard Berkowitz: Should every pregnant woman undergo ultrasonography?
New England J. Med. 329 (1993), 874-875.
Diagnostic ultrasonography has unquestionably revolutionized the care of
obstetrical patients. Before this procedure became available, the uterus
of a pregnant woman was a closed space that effectively hid most of its
secrets. Since the mid-1970 remarkable improvements in ultrasonography have
exposed that protected space to investigation throughout the course of
pregnancy and have thereby provided sophisticated insight into life before
birth. Ultrasonography has proved to be of invaluable assistance in a
variety of high-risk situations. Commenting the article of Ewigman a.o. in
the same issue of the NEJM, the author observes that the women studied in
that article were at extremely low risk for perinatal problems.

8535 V. Bodyazhina: Textbook of obstetrics. Mir 1983.

O'Driscoll: Active management of labor. 
Wolfe. 0-7234-1910-8 (pbk). Pds. 20.

5384 Bernard Ewigman a.o.: Effect of prenatal ultrasound screening on
perinatal outcome. New England J. Med. 329 (1993), 821-827.
Many clinicians advocate routine ultrasound screening of the fetus during
pregnancy to detect congenital anomalies, multiple-gestation pregnancies,
fetal growth disorders, and placental abnormalities and to assess fetal age.
Although the detection of these conditions is enhanced by ultrasonography,
a beneficial effect on perinatal outcome has not been substantiated. The
predominantly negative findings of past studies have provoked considerable
interest in the United States, where concern about unnecessary testing,
overtreatment, and cost is growing. In this paper the authors conclude
that screening ultrasonography does not improve perinatal outcome as
compared with the selective use of ultrasonography on the basis of clinician 
judgement. A total of 15,530 women entered the study.

12591 Roger Smith: Das Timing der Geburt - die Uhr in der Plazenta.
Spektrum 1999/6, 46-52.