**5. Conclusions**

The placenta is an indispensable, yet temporary, organ of the developing human that we are rapidly improving our knowledge of via scientific investigation. Clinical correlates of placental abnormalities and malfunction are a common occurrence at prenatal testing centers and on the labor and delivery wards throughout the world. Placental abnormalities can lead to adverse fetal outcomes such as SGA/IUGR, discordant growth in twins, preterm birth, IUFD as well as maternal adverse outcomes such as hemorrhage requiring blood transfusion, surgery for retained products of conception, hysterectomy, and even mortality. When diagnosed in the antepartum or peripartum period, practitioners must take into account minimizing adverse consequences to both the fetus/neonate as well as the mother. Neonatal outcomes

### *Complications of Pregnancy*

vary as widely as the placental pathology outlined in this chapter and depend both on the EGA at diagnosis, severity of the pathology, duration, fetal attributes, as well as peripartum events.

Through the course of this chapter intrinsic and extrinsic placental abnormalities and their clinical correlates have been described. Hopefully, this chapter provided you with an overview of the complex processes of abnormal placentation in relation to real-world outcomes, and will allow you to better understand the following chapters in this book.
