Establishing the study of multiple pregnancy and the perinatal care of children from multiple births as a recognized specialty within maternal-fetal medicine, the first edition of Multiple Pregnancy was a landmark publication. Fully revised, this new Second Edition has been expanded to include more on epidemiology, biologic mechanisms, the impact of infertility treatments, prenatal diagnosis, and fetal therapy. The book presents all facets of the clinical, psychosocial, and practical issues of multiple gestation and the care of multiplets.

Following on from the success of their previous standard textbook on Multiple Pregnancy, the authors have refocused their attention on prenatal assessment in multiple pregnancy and come up with condensed and revised material in a free-standing text. Multiple pregnancies are associated with higher levels of morbidity and fetal distress, and so effective and rapid diagnosis of problems is paramount. Those clinicians who would not have a practical application for all the aspects covered comprehensively in the earlier work will find this volume a clinically orientated and extremely useful addition to their working library.

Developmental and Fetal Origins of Differences in Monozygotic Twins: From Genetics to Environmental Factors examines the major causes of discordance in monozygotic twins, from genetic, to environmental influences, including discussions on the genetic, epigenetic, fetal and environmental factors. Twin differences discussed include malformations, deformations and disruptions secondary to inequitable division of the early embryo, chromosome and single gene mosaicism, Nonrandom X chromosome inactivation, mitochondrial heteroplasmy, epigenetic variation, and variable and inequitable blood supply, among other influences. Differences in hemoglobin levels, placentation and amniotic fluid are also examined, while full color images illustrate discordant anomalies and twin differences throughout.

Prominent scientists from perinatal medicine, paediatrics, psychology and sociology will meet in Modena, Italy to explore birth as a complex psychological experience for mother, father and child. The proceedings of this interdisciplinary congress are here published in English to reach the broadest possible scientific audience. The goal is to create a dialogue between humanistic and medical perspectives with regard to conception, pregnancy and birth in an era of rapid biotechnological progress, taking different social and cultural contexts into account.