Adrenal Disease and Pregnancy

During pregnancy, maternal-endocrine regulation, as well as all their physiology, undergoes profound adaptive changes in the framework of a functional organization structured in three interrelated compartments: the mother, placenta and fetus. Many of these changes are initially induced by estradiol and progesterone produced by the corpus luteum, combined with chorionic gonadotropin. As the pregnancy progresses, steroid and peptide hormones produced by the fetoplacental unit, took over. As a result of these adaptive phenomena is achieved adequate nutritional support of the fetus, uterine quiescence is maintained during childbirth, and breastfeeding is finally possible (Schindler, 2005).