DISORDERS OF PREGNANCY.
BY W. W. JAGGARD, A.M., M.D.
"Gestation," says Mauriceau, "is a disease of nine months' duration." Robert Barnes1 more truthfully remarks: "Since in pregnancy every organ and the whole organism are specially weighted, undergoing extraordinary developmental and functional activity, so any defect or fault inherited or acquired, however latent, will be liable to be evolved or intensified under the trial. Hence pregnancy is the great test of bodily soundness." The pregnant woman is liable to many disorders which can be distinctly traced to the existence of pregnancy. The study of the natural history of gestation renders it highly probable that these disorders are merely pathological exaggerations of physiological functions. Then, pregnancy confers upon the individual no immunity from the diseases to which the non-pregnant woman is liable. But certain acute and chronic diseases, sustaining the relation of accidental complications, are variously modified in their course and effects by pregnancy, and accordingly are of interest to the general practitioner.
1 Obstetric Medicine and Surgery, 1884, London, p. 205.
For convenience of discussion the disorders of pregnancy may be classified under two headings: I. The Pathological Exaggerations of Physiological Processes; and II. The Peculiarities of Certain Accidental Acute and Chronic Diseases occurring in the Course of Pregnancy.
I. THE PATHOLOGICAL EXAGGERATIONS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL PROCESSES.
It is always difficult, frequently impossible, to draw the boundary-line at which normal functional activity becomes pathological. As remarked by Spiegelberg, all the diagnostic penetration of the physician is demanded to recognize this transition. Then, a high exercise of judgment is necessary to determine when to preserve a wise and masterly inactivity, when to adopt measures of active interference.
Alterations in the Constitution of the Blood.