Eighteen or nineteen of the 150 questions on the AMC MCQ are women's health, one in every eight, and they turn on Australian protocols: when an RhD-negative woman needs anti-D, how pre-eclampsia is managed before term, the drug sequence in postpartum haemorrhage and the follow-up after gestational diabetes. Our eight free cases at AMC Academic, the question bank most closely aligned with the AMC blueprint, cover these and four more, and the table below gives every answer with the guideline behind it.
At a glance
One question in eight on the AMC exam is women's health: 18 to 19 in all.
Each of the eight keyed answers follows a named guideline, among them the National Blood Authority on anti-D, SOMANZ on hypertension in pregnancy and ADIPS on gestational diabetes.
The common errors are doing too much, doing too little and doing the right things in the wrong order.
Haemodynamic instability in early pregnancy means theatre, not more imaging.
All eight are free AMC practice questions from AMC Academic, the AMC question bank most closely aligned with the AMC blueprint, and our questions are very similar to how the AMC asks them.
The eight women's health cases, answered
| Case | The detail that decides it | Answer | Guideline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bleeding at 10 weeks, RhD-negative | Light bleeding, viable intrauterine pregnancy | No anti-D; consider it for heavy or repeated bleeding, pain or trauma | National Blood Authority, 2021 |
| Migraine with aura, wants the pill | Aura | No oestrogen at any age; offer a progestogen-only or long-acting method | UK MEC category 4, as used in Australia |
| After gestational diabetes | Diet-controlled GDM, now postnatal | 75 g OGTT at 6 to 12 weeks, then every 1 to 3 years and before another pregnancy | ADIPS, 2025 |
| Graves disease at 8 weeks | First trimester | Propylthiouracil and a beta-blocker; carbimazole after the first trimester | Therapeutic Guidelines, 2022 |
| Pre-eclampsia at 34 weeks | 154/102 mmHg, proteinuria, headache, no severe features | Admit, treat the blood pressure, give corticosteroids, monitor closely | SOMANZ, 2023 |
| Postpartum haemorrhage from atony | Bleeding continues after oxytocin and ergometrine | Carboprost, the massive haemorrhage protocol and bimanual compression | Queensland Clinical Guidelines, 2023 |
| Ectopic pregnancy in shock | BP 82/50 mmHg; free fluid up to the hepatorenal space | Resuscitate with the massive transfusion protocol and go straight to surgery | RANZCOG |
| Psychosis on day 7 postpartum | Raised TSH, low free T4 | Thyroid dysfunction as the contributing factor; admit for safety | COPE, 2023 |
Too much, too little, wrong order: where women's health marks go on the AMC exam
Most wrong answers in this group fall into three patterns.
Doing too much. Anti-D for a threatened miscarriage with a viable pregnancy before 12 weeks is the classic example: the dose and timing look right, but the indication is missing. A Kleihauer test at 10 weeks is the same mistake, because it quantifies fetomaternal haemorrhage after 20 weeks. An immediate caesarean for pre-eclampsia at 34 weeks without severe features is another.
Doing too little. Pre-eclampsia with a headache is managed in hospital, not with an outpatient prescription and a review in 48 hours. Postnatal testing after gestational diabetes is not optional, since about half of affected women develop type 2 diabetes in their lifetime, and HbA1c is unreliable in the early postpartum weeks.
The right steps in the wrong order. In postpartum haemorrhage from atony, the haemorrhage protocol, tranexamic acid, bimanual compression and the second-line uterotonic all come before balloon tamponade or theatre. In a ruptured ectopic with shock, resuscitation and surgery run together; CT, methotrexate and removing the IUD all spend time the patient does not have.
Two rules sit outside the patterns. Migraine with aura excludes every oestrogen-containing method at any age, whether or not the woman smokes. And every new postpartum psychosis needs an organic screen, including thyroid function, alongside urgent psychiatric care.
Worked example: bleeding at 10 weeks in an RhD-negative woman
This is the anti-D case in short form. Each underlined phrase changes which options survive, and the table shows how.
A 26-year-old woman whose blood group is O RhD-negative presents at 10 weeks' gestation with light, painless vaginal bleeding. Ultrasound shows a viable intrauterine pregnancy, the cervical os is closed and she has no red cell antibodies. She asks whether she needs anti-D. What is the most appropriate anti-D management?
A. Give 625 IU of anti-D within 72 hours
B. Perform a Kleihauer test before deciding
C. Give 250 IU of anti-D within 72 hours
D. No anti-D, because a fetus this small cannot sensitise her
E. No anti-D for light bleeding with a viable pregnancy before 12 weeks
| Key phrase | Why it matters | Options it rules in or out |
|---|---|---|
| "O RhD-negative" | She can form antibodies against RhD-positive fetal cells | Makes anti-D the question |
| "10 weeks' gestation" | The pregnancy is under 12 weeks | 625 IU (A) is the dose from 12 weeks; a Kleihauer test (B) applies after 20 weeks |
| "light, painless vaginal bleeding" | A threatened miscarriage, not a miscarriage | Removes the indication for 250 IU (C) |
| "viable intrauterine pregnancy" | The pregnancy is continuing | Confirms a threatened, not a complete or incomplete, miscarriage |
| "no red cell antibodies" | She is not already sensitised | Prophylaxis is still relevant, so the decision rests on the indication |
| "most appropriate anti-D management" | The lead-in asks for the decision and its basis | D reaches the right decision for the wrong reason |
Keyed answer: E. Under the National Blood Authority's 2021 guideline on RhD immunoglobulin in pregnancy, endorsed by RANZCOG, anti-D is not routinely given for a threatened miscarriage with a viable pregnancy and light bleeding before 12 weeks. It is considered if the bleeding is heavy or repeated, or there is abdominal pain or significant trauma. Before 12 weeks, 250 IU within 72 hours is for miscarriage, termination, ectopic or molar pregnancy and chorionic villus sampling. D is wrong because a fetus can sensitise the mother from about 6 to 7 weeks: anti-D is withheld for lack of benefit, not lack of risk. All five options are explained in the full case: anti-D in a first-trimester threatened miscarriage.
Practise women's health on AMC Academic
Cover the answer column of the table, open each case and commit to an answer before reading its explanation. Then take women's health into our full question bank, where these eight cases come from. Make AMC Academic your main question bank for the AMC exam: we built it to be the one most closely aligned with the AMC blueprint.
Women's health at full weight. Our question bank gives it the AMC's 12.5 percent, so obstetrics and gynaecology get the time the exam gives them.
Protocols, not textbook physiology. We explain every option and key it to Australian guidance, to the same standard as the guidelines in the table above.
Mixed and timed, like the real paper. Our mocks run to the exam's timing, forward-only, with women's health questions turning up among the other five groups.
Weak topics, named. We break your results down by specialty and topic, so a weak area within obstetrics shows up long before exam day.
Flashcards and Astra. Our flashcards are there for fast review, and Astra, our AI study companion, answers questions on a concept against Australian guidelines.
All of our 50 free clinical cases and a further 20 free questions are open to everyone, our AMC MCQ sample questions guide adds ten worked examples across all six groups, and the full question bank comes with any of the AMC Academic plans.
AMC ethics questions covers the blueprint group with the most learnable rules, and Australian management on the AMC exam explains why Australian guidelines decide so many answers. For how women's health sits alongside the other five groups, see the AMC exam overview. Candidates resitting after a fail will find a retake timetable in failed the AMC MCQ.
Common questions
How many women's health questions are on the AMC exam?
Eighteen or nineteen of 150. Women's health carries 12.5 percent of the AMC MCQ blueprint, the same share as child health, as mental health, and as the population health and ethics group.
Does an RhD-negative woman with a threatened miscarriage need anti-D?
Not routinely before 12 weeks if the pregnancy is viable and the bleeding is light. Anti-D is considered for heavy or repeated bleeding, abdominal pain or significant trauma, and it is given at 250 IU within 72 hours after a first-trimester miscarriage, termination or ectopic pregnancy.
Which antithyroid drug is used in the first trimester of pregnancy?
Propylthiouracil, because carbimazole in the first trimester is linked to specific birth defects. Treatment usually moves to carbimazole after the first trimester because propylthiouracil carries a risk of liver injury.
When is the OGTT done after gestational diabetes?
At 6 to 12 weeks after the birth, as a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test, followed by testing every 1 to 3 years and before any future pregnancy.
What is the second-line uterotonic in postpartum haemorrhage?
Carboprost, once oxytocin and ergometrine have failed, given alongside the massive haemorrhage protocol, tranexamic acid and bimanual compression. Misoprostol replaces carboprost in women with asthma.
Can a woman with migraine with aura take the combined pill?
No. Migraine with aura is UK MEC category 4 for all oestrogen-containing contraception, at any age and whether or not she smokes.
Is pre-eclampsia at 34 weeks managed as an outpatient?
No. A woman with pre-eclampsia is admitted, her blood pressure is treated, corticosteroids are given because delivery before 37 weeks is likely, and she is monitored closely.
Where can I practise AMC women's health questions?
On AMC Academic, where these eight cases come from. Our full question bank of more than 2,800 questions is mapped to the AMC blueprint and carries women's health at the exam's 12.5 percent, with every option explained against Australian guidance; 20 questions and 50 clinical cases are free.
Disclaimer. AMC Academic is an independent educational platform with no relationship of any kind to the Australian Medical Council. Our questions and explanations are original material written by our own team to the published AMC blueprint and checked against current Australian guidelines. We do not reproduce, copy or distribute questions from the AMC or any other examination authority, and no question on this platform is claimed to have appeared in, or to predict, any actual examination. The clinical scenarios in this article are written for exam preparation and are not medical advice. For eligibility, fees, dates, format and rules, the AMC's own materials are authoritative.