Pregnancy is associated with physiologic changes that help compensate for the
increasing demands of the fetus and placenta. Clinically, pregnancy acts as a stress
test that unmasks maternal disease and may have long term implications for
maternal and fetal health. General obstetricians are often hesitant to care for
complex medical problems, and internists to care for pregnant patients, which
may create a gap into which sick pregnant women will fall at a time when they
are most vulnerable.