Fertility and Pregnancy

Abstract This new edition provides a fresh perspective on reproductive epidemiology—a field brimming with new ideas. From dogmas being upended to the challenges of the Covid epidemic, the epidemiologic study of fertility and pregnancy is in an era of discovery. The opening chapters of this edition address the biology of conception and fetal development, with an overview of relevant disciplines including reproductive anatomy, physiology, obstetrics, genetics, and infectious diseases. These topics provide a framework for the major themes and methods of reproductive epidemiology—the study of recurrence risk in families, the key role of selective fertility, and the difficulties of causal interpretation. There are new chapters on infectious disease and recent developments in analytic methods, with extensively revised chapters on the emerging role of cardiovascular disease in pregnancy and on the misunderstood condition of fetal growth restriction. The book closes with discussion of unanswered questions and future opportunities for research.