Perinatal Physiology

Living Nature, not dull Art Shall plan my ways and rule my heart -Cardinal Newman Nature and Art 1868 One of the ineluctable consequences of growth in any field of science is that subjects of inquiry once established tend to give birth to subsubjects and that the subsubjects once established will in time undergo further mitotic division. Not so many years ago, problems surrounding the ietus and newly born infant lay in a realm almost to be described as a "no-man's land." Obstetricians properly gave major consideration to understanding and learning about processes and disorders concerned with maternal health and safety. The welfare of the infant was regarded as of secondary importance. Pediatricians on their part hesitated to invade the nursery, a sanctum regarded as belonging to the domain of the accoucheur. And the pathologist, enveloped in the mysteries of life and death in the adult, found scant tim~ for the neonate and the placenta. Front Matter....Pages i-xxiii Intrauterine Growth....Pages 1-18 The Placenta: An Overview....Pages 19-26 Maturation, Adaptation, and Tolerance....Pages 27-36 Postnatal Growth....Pages 37-45 The Skeleton....Pages 47-52 Respiration and the Respiratory System....Pages 53-101 Lung Maturity and Pulmonary Phospholipid Metabolism....Pages 103-127 The Fetal Circulation and Its Alteration at Birth....Pages 129-180 Blood Volume....Pages 181-198 Formed Elements of Human Blood....Pages 199-213 The Hemoglobins....Pages 215-239 Respiratory Gas Transport Characteristics of Blood and Hemoglobin....Pages 241-255 Blood Coagulation Factors and Fibrinolysis....Pages 257-265 Maturation of Cellular and Humoral Immunity....Pages 267-315 Digestion and Absorption....Pages 317-356 Nutrition of the Newborn....Pages 357-363 Carbohydrate Metabolism and the Regulation of Blood Glucose....Pages 365-381 Protein and Amino Acid Metabolism....Pages 383-395 Lipids....Pages 397-423 Functions and Metabolism of Trace Elements....Pages 425-454 Heat Production and Temperature Regulation....Pages 455-498 Liver Enzymes....Pages 499-521 Bilirubin Metabolism....Pages 523-546 Development of the Ornithine-Urea Cycle....Pages 547-553 Hepatic Drug Metabolism....Pages 555-563 Electrolyte and Water Metabolism....Pages 565-587 The Kidney....Pages 589-616 Calcium and Phosphorus Metabolism....Pages 617-624 Physiology and Pharmacology of the Central Nervous System....Pages 625-650 Function of the Nervous System During Prenatal Life....Pages 651-683 Neonatal Brain Mechanisms and the Development of Motor Behavior....Pages 685-713 Biochemistry of Muscle Development....Pages 715-725 The Autonomic Nervous System....Pages 727-737 The Visual System....Pages 739-750 The Auditory Response....Pages 751-760 Morphological and Functional Development of the Skin....Pages 761-773 Steroid Hormone Formation and Metabolism....Pages 775-792 The Anterior Lobe of the Hypophysis....Pages 793-812 Insulin and Glucagon....Pages 813-829 Thyroid Hormones....Pages 831-840 Back Matter....Pages 841-851