Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T05:14:16.124Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

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

By
Ksenija Gersak
Edited by
Tahir Mahmood ,
Charles Savona Ventura ,
Ioannis Messinis  and
Sambit Mukhopadhyay
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
Get access

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
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

McElroy, A, Townsend, PK. Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective, 6th ed. Boulder: Westview Press; 2015.Google Scholar
Fritz, MA, Speroff, L. Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility, 8th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer; 2010.Google Scholar
Albrecht, ED, Pepe, GJ. Placental steroid hormone biosynthesis in primate pregnancy. Endocr Rev. 1990;11(1):124–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bhattacharyya, S, Chaudhary, J, Das, C. Antibodies to hCG inhibit progesterone production from human syncytiotrophoblast cells. Placenta. 1992;13:135–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pepe, GJ, Albrecht, ED. Actions of placental and fetal adrenal steroid hormones in primate pregnancy. Endocr Rev. 1995;16(5):608–48.Google ScholarPubMed
Berkane, N, Liere, P, Oudinet, JP, et al. from pregnancy to preeclampsia: a key role for estrogens. Endocr Rev. 2017;38(2):123–44.Google Scholar
Spellacy, WN, Buhi, WC, Schram, JD, Birk, SA, McCreary, SA. Control of human chorionic somatomammotropin levels during pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol. 1971;37:567–73.Google ScholarPubMed
Handwerger, S. Clinical counterpoint: the physiology of placental lactogen in human pregnancy. Endocr Rev. 1991;12(4):329–36.Google Scholar
Glinoer, D. The regulation of thyroid function in pregnancy: pathways of endocrine adaptation from physiology to pathology. Endocr Rev. 1997;8:404–33.Google Scholar
Fister, P, Gaberscek, S, Zaletel, K, et al. Thyroid volume changes during pregnancy and after delivery in an iodine-sufficient Republic of Slovenia. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2009;145(1):45–8.Google Scholar
Rigg, LA, Lein, A, Yen, SS. Pattern of increase in circulating prolactin levels during human gestation. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1977;129(4):454–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cunningham, FG, Leveno, KJ, Bloom, SL, et al. Williams Obstetrics, 25th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education; 2018.Google Scholar
Hicks, JB. On the contractions of the uterus throughout pregnancy: their physiological effects and their value in the diagnosis of pregnancy. Transactions of the Obstetrical Society of London 1871;13:216–31.Google Scholar
Garfield, RE, Maner, WL, Maul, H, Saade, GR. Use of uterine EMG and cervical LIF in monitoring pregnant patients. BJOG. 2005;112 Suppl 1:103–8.Google Scholar
Trojner Bregar, A, Lucovnik, M, Verdenik, I, et al. Uterine electromyography during active phase compared with latent phase of labor at term. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2016;95:197–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pauerstein, CJ, ed. Clinical Obstetrics. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1987.Google Scholar
Osol, G, Mandala, M. Maternal uterine vascular remodeling during pregnancy. Physiology (Bethesda). 2009;24:58–71.Google ScholarPubMed
Riordan, J, Wmbach, K, eds. Breastfeeding and Human Lactation. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2010.Google Scholar
Lindheimer, MD, Davison, JM. Osmoregulation, the secretion of arginine vasopressin and its metabolism during pregnancy. Eur J Endocrinol. 1995;132:133–43.Google Scholar
Institute of Medicine, Committee on Nutritional Status During Pregnancy and Lactation. Nutrition During Pregnancy: Part I: Weight Gain, Part II: Nutrient Supplements. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 1990.Google Scholar
Hytten, F, Chamberlain, G, eds. Clinical Physiology in Obstetrics. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications; 1980.Google Scholar
Creasy, RK, Resnik, R, Iams, JD, et al. Creasy and Resnik’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine: Principles and Practice. Philadelphia; Elsevier Saunders: 2014.Google Scholar
Fisher, AL, Nemeth, E. Iron homeostasis during pregnancy. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017;106(Suppl 6):1567S-74S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heidemann, BH, McClure, JH. Changes in maternal physiology during pregnancy. BJA CEPD Rev. 2003;3:65–8.Google Scholar
Hellgren, M. Hemostasis during normal pregnancy and puerperium. Semin Thromb Hemost. 2003;29:125–30.Google Scholar
Karlsson, O, Jeppsson, A, Hellgren, M. A longitudinal study of factor XIII activity, fibrinogen concentration, platelet count and clot strength during normal pregnancy. Thromb Res. 2014;134:750–2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sanghavi, M, Rutherford, JD. Cardiovascular physiology of pregnancy. Circulation. 2014;130:1003–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bobrowski, RA. Pulmonary physiology in pregnancy. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2010;53:285–300.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hussein, W, Lafayette, RA. Renal function in normal and disordered pregnancy. Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens. 2014;23(1):46–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Odutayo, A, Hladunewich, M. Obstetric nephrology: renal hemodynamic and metabolic physiology in normal pregnancy. Clin J Am Soc Nephrol. 2012;7(12):2073–80.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cheung, KL, Lafayette, RA. Renal physiology of pregnancy. Adv Chronic Kidney Dis. 2013;20(3):209–14.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, M, Lindheimer, MD, Davison, JM. Altered glomerular permselectivity to neutral dextrans and heteroporous membrane modeling in human pregnancy. Am J Physiol. 1996;270:F338–43.Google ScholarPubMed
Vanagunas, A, Pandolfino, J. Gastrointestinal complications in pregnancy. In Sciarra, JJ, ed. Gynecology and Obstetrics, CD-ROM ed. Hagerstown: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2004.Google Scholar
Tyler, KH. Physiological skin changes during pregnancy. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2015;58:119–24.Google Scholar
Medawar, PB. Immunity to homologous grafted skin. iii. the fate of skin homographs transplanted to the brain, to subcutaneous tissue, and to the anterior chamber of the eye. Br J Exp Pathol. 1948;29(1):58–69.Google Scholar
Colbern, GT, Main, EK. Immunology of the maternal-placental interface in normal pregnancy. Semin Perinatol. 1991;15(3):196–205.Google ScholarPubMed
Mor, G, Cardenas, I. The immune system in pregnancy: a unique complexity. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2010;63(6):425–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Racicot, K, Kwon, JY, Aldo, P, Silasi, M, Mor, G. Understanding the complexity of the immune system during pregnancy. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2014;72(2):107–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×