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Guidelines for Perinatal Care represents the collaborative efforts of subcommittees of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in providing care recommendations toward the common goals of improving maternal-neonatal care and outcome. This publication encompasses and serves to replace Standards and Recommendations for Hospital Care of Newborn Infants, which was initially published in 1948 and has undergone several revisions and editions. This ambitious work represents the combined efforts of 54 contributors and is generally well organized and written in a cohesive fashion. This is no small feat when dealing with such a multitude of authors.
The first chapters of the book provide information for optimizing physical resources and regionalization. These concepts are relatively young ones, yet it is increasingly apparent that they are of paramount importance in order to efficiently coordinate perinatal care. These chapters discuss the necessary components for perinatal regionalization, the optimal