Main description:

Fertility and Pregnancy: An Epidemiologic Perspective, is a lively overview of human reproduction: how it works, and what causes it to go wrong. Weaving together history, biology, obstetrics, pediatrics, demography, infectious diseases, molecular genetics, and evolutionary biology, Allen Wilcox brings a fresh coherence to the epidemiologic study of reproduction and pregnancy. Along the way, he provides entertaining anecdotes, superb graphs, odd tidbits and
occasional humor that bring the topic to life.

The book is divided into two sections. The first lays the foundations - the basic principles of reproductive physiology, demography, infectious diseases, and genetics as they apply to human reproduction. The second part deals with the endpoints of reproductive epidemiology - a spectrum ranging from infertility and fetal loss to birth defects and the delayed effects of fetal exposures. The book closes with a discussion of unsolved problems, suggesting possible research projects for a new
generation of epidemiologists. An extensive glossary makes this a valuable reference as well as an enjoyable read.

Contents:

PART ONE: FOUNDATIONS
1. The Creative Biology of Human Reproduction
2. On Getting Pregnant
3. How Humans Control their Fertility
4. Infections and Reproduction
5 The Genetics of Reproduction
6. Evolutionary Biology and Eugenics
7. Recurrence Risk
8. Reproductive Epidemiology: Themes and Variations
PART TWO: OUTCOMES
9. Fertility and Fecundability
10. Early Pregnancy Loss
11. Miscarriage
12. Stillbirth and Infant Mortality
13. Twins and More
14. Gestational Age and Preterm Delivery
15. Birth Weight and Fetal Growth
16. Birth Defects
17. Sex Ratio
18. Maternal Morbidity and Mortality
19. Preeclampsia
20. Fetal Exposures and Adult Disease
21. Unanswered Questions in Reproductive Epidemiology
Afterword
Puzzlers
Glossary
Appendix
References
Index