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-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T04:03:11.727Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Section 1 - GeneralPrinciples

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2012

Edited by
Edwin Chandraharan  and
Sabaratnam Arulkumaran
Edwin Chandraharan
Affiliation:
St George’s University of London
Sabaratnam Arulkumaran
Affiliation:
St George’s University of London
Get access

Summary

Pregnancy is associated with profound anatomical, physiological, biochemical and endocrine changes that affect multiple organs and systems. Red blood cell (RBC) volume falls during the first 8 weeks of pregnancy, increasing back to non-pregnant levels by 16 weeks and then rising to 30 percentage above non-pregnant levels by term. Marked physiological changes of cardiovascular system, respiratory system, renal system, and gastrointestinal system are significantly observed. During pregnancy the skin undergoes a number of changes, mainly thought to be due to hormonal changes. The additional demand for folate during pregnancy leads to a rapid fall in red cell folate and to a high incidence of megaloblastic anaemia in those women taking anticonvulsant drugs for control of epilepsy. For appendicectomy the type of incision depends on the gestation and the location of the appendix. The routine use of urinalysis for monitoring of glycaemic control during pregnancy is unreliable.
Type
Chapter
Information
Obstetric and Intrapartum Emergencies
A Practical Guide to Management
 , pp. 1 - 14
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

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.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org 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
×