Maternal Physiology during Pregnancy, Including Immunology of Pregnancy

doi:10.1017/9781108863049.003

Chapter 2 - Maternal Physiology during Pregnancy, Including Immunology of Pregnancy

from Section 1 - Basic Sciences in Obstetrics

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2021

Ksenija Gersak

Edited by

Tahir Mahmood ,

Charles Savona Ventura ,

Ioannis Messinis and

Sambit Mukhopadhyay

Show author details

Tahir Mahmood: Affiliation:
Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy
Charles Savona Ventura: Affiliation:
University of Malta, Malta
Ioannis Messinis: Affiliation:
University of Thessaly, Greece
Sambit Mukhopadhyay: Affiliation:
Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital, UK

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Summary

Pregnancy is a specific relationship between two or more organisms inside their unique ecosystem. Although they belong to the same species, the relationship can be qualified as a symbiotic and parasitic form of biological interaction [1]. The question might be rooted more in the psychology rather than physiology of pregnancy. On the other hand, however, a fetus does control maternal adaptation to pregnancy, and for its successful development and growth it needs an effective exchange of nutritive and metabolic products with the mother, combined with a reliable life-support system composed of the placenta, umbilical cord and amniotic sac.

Type: Chapter
Information: The EBCOG Postgraduate Textbook of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Obstetrics & Maternal-Fetal Medicine
, pp. 8 - 18

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108863049.003 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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