Key Points Hypertension is the most common medical complication during pregnancy. Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity worldwide. The pathophysiologic abnormalities of preeclampsia are numerous, but the etiology is unknown. At present, there is no proven…
Key Points PROM complicates about 8% to 10% of pregnancies and is a significant cause of gestational age–dependent and infectious perinatal morbidity and mortality. Latency from membrane rupture to delivery is typically brief and decreases with increasing gestational age at…
Key Points More than 70% of fetal, neonatal, and infant morbidity and mortality occurs in infants born preterm. The rate of PTB peaked in 2006 as the result of the increased use of assisted reproductive technology, ultrasound dating, and indicated…
Key Points Cervical insufficiency is primarily a clinical diagnosis characterized by recurrent painless dilatation and spontaneous midtrimester loss. Cervical insufficiency is rarely a distinct and well-defined clinical entity, but only one component of the larger and more complex spontaneous preterm…
Key Points About 50% to 70% of conceptions are lost, most in the first trimester. Losses in preimplantation embryos are especially high: 25% to 50% of morphologically normal and 50% to 75% of morphologically abnormal embryos. Sporadic pregnancy loss is…
Key Points Maternal trauma is the most frequent cause of nonobstetric maternal death. In cases of significant trauma, such as motor vehicle accidents, maternal stabilization and evaluation in the emergency department should occur prior to transfer to labor and delivery.…
Key Points Care of the pregnant surgical patient requires a multidisciplinary approach with an understanding of the physiologic changes that accompany normal pregnancy. Expansion of maternal blood volume during pregnancy may mask signs of maternal hemorrhage, and clinically significant blood…
Key Points The WHO, the U.S. Surgeon General, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Practice, ACOG, and the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine endorse breastfeeding as the gold standard for infant feeding. Breastfeeding accrues many health benefits…
Key Points By 6 weeks postpartum, only 28% of women have returned to their prepregnant weight. About 50% of parturients experience diminished sexual desire during the 3 months that follow delivery. Postpartum uterine bleeding of sufficient quantity to require medical…
Key Points Surfactant maintains lung expansion on expiration by lowering surface tension at the air-liquid interface in the alveolus. Antenatal corticosteroids accelerate fetal lung maturation and decrease neonatal mortality and RDS in preterm infants. In addition, corticosteroids are associated with…