edited by E V Cosmi (Università “La Sapienza”, Roma, Italy) , G C Di Renzo (University of Perugia, Italy) , T H Bloomfield (Queen Charlotte's & Chelsea Hospital, UK) , & D F Hawkins (Hammersmith Hospital, UK)

This volume is based on presentations at the fifth course on perinatal medicine held in the International School of Medical Sciences at the Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily, in March 1996. It has had a prolonged gestation, but the presentations have been updated and thus the book will benefit perinatologists internationally.

The introductory lecture, by philosopher Donald Evans, is of great interest, discussing the issues which all those involved in reproductive medicine, in its widest sense, are dealing with all the time but seldom think about or put in context. Subsequent papers deal with understanding the development and management of the fetus and newborn along lines which represent real progress in perinatal medicine. The epilogue, based on a seminar, will be a help to all those Europeans and others struggling to present their work in English language journals and books.

• Treating the Embryo (D Evans)
• Fetal Oxygenation (E V Cosmi et al.)
• Evaluation of the Hypoxic Fetus (G Clerici et al.)
• Chaos Theory in Pregnancy (G Clerici et al.)
• Intra-Uterine Growth Retardation. Intra-Uterine Treatment (M Iwashita et al.)
• Physiology and Pathophysiology of Lung Development (B A Holm et al.)
• Diagnosis and Treatment of Fetal Lung Immaturity (E V Cosmi et al.)
• Brain Development (G Clerici et al.)
• Assessment of the Development of the Automatic Nervous System in Mechanically Ventilated Preterm Babies by Means of Spectral Analysis of Heart Rate Variability: A New Approach to Heart Rate Variability by Real-Time Spectral Analysis (M Bartocci)
• Fetal Behaviour (G H A Visser & E J H Mulder)
• Atosiban — the Oxytocin Antagonist — and Preterm Labour. A Review (D F Hawkins)
• Apnoea of Prematurity
• Possible Relationship to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. A Brief Summary (E V Cosmi et al.)
• Doppler Evaluation of Neonatal Pulmonary Haemodynamics (P Kääpä & M Seppänen)
• Neonatal Risk Factors for Periventricular and Intraventricular Haemorrhage (J U Grönlund et al.)
• Patient Surveillance in Neonatal Intensive Care (I Välimäki et al.)
• The “Extra-Uterine” Fetus and Intensive Care Environment (G Calciolari et al.)
• Epilogue: How to Write a Scientific Paper for an English Language Journal (T H Bloomfield)