Pregnancy raises complex issues for women with multiple sclerosis. Preconceptual considerations include the small risk (approximately 3 per cent) of their child inheriting the disease and the practical…

Most women with pre-existing epilepsy have no change in the frequency of their seizures during pregnancy, but some 30 per cent have more frequent seizures. These are often women…

There is probably an increased incidence of stroke during pregnancy and the puerperium, although it remains rare. There are some causes of stroke which seem to be more common…

Although the incidence of cerebral and spinal tumours is probably no greater than at other times, some tumours expand during pregnancy and may present unusually rapidly. This probably reflects…

Headache
The most common form of headache during pregnancy (as at other times) is chronic daily headache of the tension type. This may be a continuation of pre-existing…

Approximately 7% of healthy pregnant women have mild to moderate thrombocytopenia (platelet count 80 to 150 × 10⁹ per liter). Neither these women nor their offspring manifest abnormal bleeding. This condition has been designated incidental…

Because plasma volume increases more than red cell volume, the hematocrit during pregnancy can be expected to fall to as low as 35% by the beginning of the third trimester. Generally, a hemoglobin value of less…

Asthma is one of the most common illnesses and the most common obstructive pulmonary disease encountered during pregnancy. Asthma may occur for the first time during pregnancy. Approximately one third of pregnant women with asthma improve,…

Thromboembolic disease is the leading cause of nonobstetric postpartum maternal mortality. In the United States, one half of all thromboembolic events in women younger than 40 years are related to pregnancy. The risk of deep…

Normal pregnancy is accompanied by changes in blood volume, heart rate, blood pressure, cardiac output, and ventilation. Cardiac output begins to rise during the first trimester, peaks at an approximate 40% increase by 20 to…

Diagnosis. Without documentation of elevated blood pressure before pregnancy, chronic hypertension can only be presumed. The vast majority of patients who present with elevated blood pressure before the twentieth week of gestation, however, have chronic…

Pregnancy is associated with a variety of anatomic and functional changes of the kidneys and lower urinary tract. Caliceal, pelvic, and ureteral dilatation occurs during the first trimester and persists throughout gestation up to 12…