Fellowship in Reproductive Medicine: Physiological Changes in Early Pregnancy
Physiological changes in early pregnancy. What are our learning objectives? What is the importance of physiological changes during pregnancy? And to discuss in detail about the important changes in reproductive system and various other systems in pregnancy. The importance is that during pregnancy, the pregnant mother undergoes significant anatomical and physiological changes in order to nurture and accommodate the developing fetus. The changes begin to occur early in the first trimester, peaking at term and revert to pre-pregnancy levels by six weeks into the puerperium. Unless well understood, these physiological adaptations of normal pregnancy can be misinterpreted as pathological. Now, what could be the changes in the various systems in pregnancy? It could be the genital organs, the breast, hematological, cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, endocrine, and gastrointestinal. Let's talk of the genital organs first. The vulva and the vagina, both become edematous and vascular....