title: Maternal-fetal risk assessment.
abstract: In first-world countries, maternal and infant mortality has significantly decreased over the past 50 years due to factors such as skilled pregnancy care practitioners, aseptic hospital births, antibiotics, safe blood transfusions, and oxytocin. However, international maternal and infant mortality statistics from underdeveloped countries remain high. Pregnancy risk management requires implementation of risk-reduction strategies that have been proven to be effective. Marked physiological alterations in biochemical indices that occur in pregnancy require that laboratories participating in the evaluation of new interventions in pregnancy must ensure that tests are compared to appropriate gestation-specific reference intervals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Children's and Women's Health Centre of British Columbia, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC Canada V6H 3V4. glockitch@cw.bc.ca
authors.forename: Gillian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lockitch
mesh_terms: D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000592:standards*; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012308:Risk Management