Preface

The obstetrical population has dramatically changed during the last few decades. The obesity epidemic among reproductive-age women has resulted in a significant increase in coexistence of medical conditions with pregnancy such as severe chronic hypertension, pregestational diabetes, and thyroid disease.

At the same time, medical care has substantially improved allowing certain subpopulations to achieve reproductive ages and successfully becoming pregnant. The latter groups include women with corrected complex cardiac congenital disease and women with transplanted organs receiving complex immunosuppression regimens.

The specialty of maternal fetal medicine should involve direct maternal care. High-risk-pregnancy doctors should be familiar with the different medical conditions that may coexist with pregnancy and provide a leading role (as opposed to a bystander that does not more than refer the patient to a specific consultant) in the management of these sometimes complicated cases.

Maternal Medicine is a textbook that was created with the latter concerns in mind. The main idea of this book is to provide important relevant information to the clinician so that actual care may be delivered to the patient based on recommendations provided by experts in each field and based on clinical evidence when available. Each chapter has been extensively reviewed focusing on clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of each condition while limiting clinically unnecessary information. The editors hope that this book will help busy doctors provide excellent care to their sick patients.