ABSTRACT
The care of the pregnant woman is one of the paradoxes of modern medicine. Risk perception among pregnant women, and many health professionals, is often poor. Most pregnant women expect to have a healthy pregnancy resulting in the birth of a healthy child. They are often unaware of the background incidence of congenital malformations (2-3%) or miscarriages (10-20% – often associated with foetal malformations incompatible with extrauterine life) in clinically confirmed pregnancies. Many women do have uneventful pregnancies and require little if any medical intervention. However, some women who are at a high risk of damaging their own health or that of their unborn child require appropriate intervention often involving drug treatment.
