OBJECTIVE To review the information on fetal and perinatal autopsies, the process of obtaining consent, and the alternative information-gathering options following a prenatal diagnosis of non-chromosomal malformations, and to assist clinicians in providing postnatal counselling regarding fetal diagnosis and recurrence risks. OUTCOMES To provide better counselling about fetal and perinatal aut...

OBJECTIVE To assess the ability of the member states of the European Union to produce the indicators recommended by the PERISTAT project on perinatal health indicators and to provide an overview of fetal and infant health outcomes for these countries according to the information now available. METHODS We used data from the PERISTAT survey of data providers to compute PERISTAT indicators of fe...

For nearly 300 years it has been recognized that the maternal circulation is essential for the successful accomplishment of mammalian pregnancy. William Harvey, in his De Generatione Animalium, which was published in 1651, stated his belief that the umbilical vessels carried (rather than blood) a whitish humour which served as food for the fetus.' Some of his contemporaries were still arguing a...

BACKGROUND Fetal and neonatal mortality rates are essential indicators of population health, but variations in recording of births and deaths at the limits of viability compromises international comparisons. The World Health Organization recommends comparing rates after exclusion of births with a birth weight less than 1000 grams, but many analyses of perinatal outcomes are based on gestational...

Fetal cells transfer to the mother during pregnancy and can persist long-term as microchimerism. Acquisition of microchimerism may also occur during pregnancy loss, either miscarriage or pregnancy termination. Because nearly half of all pregnancies end in loss, we recently investigated the magnitude of fetal cell transfer during pregnancy loss and whether obstetric clinical factors impacted cel...

†Fetal Medicine Unit of the University Hospital Brugmann, Brussels, Belgium; ‡Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Center for Integral Assistance to Women’s Health, State University of Campinas Medical School, Campinas, Brazil; §Harris Birthright Research Centre of Fetal Medicine, King’s College Hospital, London, UK; ¶Department of Fetal Medicine, University College London NHS Foundation Tr...