Obstetrics and Gynecology A Comprehensive Guide for MRCOG 2026

Medical practice is changing and developing at pace. Te
introduction of new technologies, personalised medicine and
advances in surgical specialties are occurring across the board,
and the specialty of obstetrics and gynaecology is no exception.
Furthermore, women’s voices – their experiences of healthcare,
views on the screening tests, lifestyle changes to prevent diseases
and treatment choices for management – are increasingly important in the area of women’s health.
It is always difcult to know when an update of an established
textbook is required, but the use of online educational platforms,
the increasingly popular use of systematic reviews of evidence
and the constant revision of professional guidelines across the
world make the need to refresh and update textbook content
an increasing priority. Tis is the fourth edition of Obstetrics
and Gynaecology: A Comprehensive Guide for MRCOG. Since
the last edition was published in 2016, the rapid pace at which
new knowledge and evidence have become available requires a
revision to organise and present data in a format that fulfls the
requirements of aspiring obstetricians and gynaecologists and
continues to provide an easily accessible source of information
for those practising as specialists. Te popularity of the previous three editions signifes that we are achieving these objectives, and the tested template of aligning the text to the RCOG
curriculum appears to meet the needs of the majority of readers. Te basic core knowledge upon which our discipline is built
does not evolve as rapidly as other aspects of our specialism, and
an in-depth understanding of this core knowledge (as well as of
And fnally, I would like to both acknowledge and pay tribute to
David M Luesley’s long-standing hard work and support in producing all four editions to date. His vision and skill in producing
a concise, up-to-date textbook with clear text and diagrams is an
new technologies and their applications in clinical practice) is an
essential prerequisite to success in the MRCOG examination,
and a solid basis on which to build a career as a practising specialist. Te MRCOG’s ‘core curriculum’ is constantly evolving, and
the MRCOG examination format has itself been modifed, with
three parts to the formal assessment.
It is natural with the passage of time that contributors to our
previous editions will have retired or moved on elsewhere, and
it is right to bring in new contributors who have enthusiasm
and often bring a fresh perspective and contemporary experience to their subject matter. We remain immensely grateful for
the grounding provided by our previous contributors to all three
editions. Teir previous eforts, and the skilful updating, editing
and rewriting of our new contributors, have maintained the high
quality of the presented material, both text and fgures.
We also wish to thank the section editors – James Castleman,
Arri Coomarasamy, Jessica Davison, James Owen Drife, Leo
Gurney, Pierre Martin-Hirsch, Ash Monga and Jason Yap – for
their conscientiousness, skill and hard work in producing the fnished chapters. Updating, adding and omitting provides a massive
editorial challenge if the ‘feel’ of the text is to be preserved. We
believe that we have done the best that we can and that this textbook will continue to be an invaluable companion to the higher
training of obstetricians and gynaecologists, and a useful repository of knowledge and evidence for those in established practice.
Mark D Kilby and David M Luesley
inspiration. I would like to mark my thanks, both personally and
on behalf of previous contributors.
Mark D