Overview 39 Gestational Weight Gain 39 Cardiovascular System 39 Heart 39 Cardiac Output 39 Arterial Blood Pressure and Systemic Vascular Resistance 41 Venous Pressure 41 Central Hemodynamic Assessment 41 Normal Changes That Mimic Heart Disease 42 Effect of Labor and the Immediate Puerperium 42 Cardiac Rhythm 43 Hematologic Changes 43 Plasma Volume and Red Cell Mass 43 Iron Metabolism 44 Platele...

There has been increased recognition over the past decade of the importance of nutrition in women in developing countries with international organizations' initiatives encouraging work on the issue. However, discussion of women's nutrition in developing countries has focused upon maternal nutrition with regard to the effect of maternal nutritional status on birth weight and lactational perform...

Placental responses to maternal perturbations are complex and remain poorly understood. Altered maternal environment during pregnancy such as hypoxia, stress, obesity, diabetes, toxins, altered nutrition, inflammation, and reduced utero-placental blood flow may influence fetal development, which can predispose to diseases later in life. The placenta being a metabolically active tissue responds ...