This book provides the analysis of a uniquely large, population-based data set evaluating congenital anomalies as a consequence of maternal diseases. The possible adverse birth outcomes of babies born to mothers diagnosed with important diseases have not yet been evaluated in such a material by the same method. The greatest merit of these studies is that by analyzing their data the authors managed to identify some new previously unknown associations between maternal diseases and adverse birth outcomes. The first aim of the authors was to summarize 50 years of experiences in human teratology...

The major objective of our studies in the last decade was a systematic analysis of maternal diseases during pregnancy to reveal their possible adverse effects on birth outcomes. The two most important factors of infant mortality were parti- larly analyzed: structural birth defects, known as congenital abnormalities (CAs) and preterm birth (PB). In general the objectives of scienti c studies might be either to test a new hypothesis or to con rm or confront previously published results. However, less frequently the authors/scientists have personal motivations determined by their professional...