Objectives-This report presents, for the first time, data on cause of fetal death by selected characteristics such as maternal age, Hispanic origin and race, fetal sex, period of gestation, and birthweight. Methods-Descriptive tabulations of data collected on the 2003 U.S. Standard Report of Fetal Death are presented for fetal deaths occurring at 20 weeks of gestation or more in a reporting are...

The placenta is an organ that clinicians and embryologists would all agree is important for pregnancy success. Unfortunately, however, they too often ignore it when they are exploring causes for embryonic, fetal and perinatal complications. The core function of the placenta is to mediate the transport of nutrients between the maternal and fetal circulation, but it also has critical endocrine fu...

Abnormal fetal growth, both growth restriction and overgrowth, is associated with perinatal complications and an increased risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disease later in life. Fetal growth is dependent on nutrient availability, which in turn is related to the capacity of the placenta to transport these nutrients. The activity of a range of nutrient transporters has been reported to be de...

BACKGROUND The measurement of maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin as a predictor of fetuses with Down syndrome has been in use since 1987. OBJECTIVES To determine the correlation between extremely high levels of hCG at mid-gestation and maternal and fetal complications. METHODS The study group consisted of 75 pregnant women with isolated high levels of hCG (> 4 MOM) at mid-gestation...

Obesity, the most common metabolic disorder, concerns, among others, women of reproductive age and, when it occurs before or during pregnancy, constitutes a major risk factor for both maternal and fetal complications. The complications of obesity in a prospective mother include subfertility, miscarriage, thrombo-embolism, hypertensive disorders, metabolic syndrome, preterm delivery and higher f...

INTRODUCTION Sacrococcygeal teratoma (SCT) is a rare tumor in the general population, arising from multipotent stem cells. Whereas most of the cases diagnosed postnatally have good prognosis, the rate of mortality and morbidities associated with prenatally diagnosed SCT remain high, with a reported mortality rate of 30% to 50%. The outcome of fetal SCT can be unpredictable, with some cases with...

Obstructed labor with the fetal head impacted in pelvis is an obstetric complication that requires cesarean delivery with skilful handling. Extraction and delivery of the fetal head in this situation can be achieved utilizing either an ‘abdomino-vaginal’ approach or ‘reverse breech extraction’. Other techniques include use of a ‘Dis impaction system’ or ‘Patwardhan technique’. However, caesarea...

Maternal-fetal cellular trafficking (MFCT) is a well described phenomenon during pregnancy in which maternal cells migrate into the fetus and fetal cells migrate into the mother [1–5]. The specific mechanisms leading to such trafficking and its lifelong consequences have fascinated scientists for decades and are still actively being investigated. For example, several groups have demonstrated an...

The authors report the clinical case of a multipara whose intracervical myoma had been diagnosed during prenatal follow-up and who was delivered into vagina labor. Caesarean section indicated to avoid rupture pedicle fetal expulsion. myomectomy performed in second operation via vagina, without complications.

It is now well established that obstetric complications or obstetric events increase the risk for schizophrenia. This is a small effect—the pooled odds ratio of the effect of exposure to obstetric complications on the subsequent development of schizophrenia has been estimated to be about 2.0 (95% confidence interval, 1.6–2.4). The term ‘‘obstetric complications’’ covers a wide range of events, ...