Is measurement of placental function and maternal weight worth while?

A prospective survey of 1029 women delivered during 1976 at St. Bartholomew's Hospital was undertaken to assess the predictive value of a variety of clinical, ultrasonic, and biochemical variables in the detection of high-risk pregnancies. The best antenatal predictors of fetal risk were severe pre-eclampsia, depressed maternal serum levels of human placental lactogen, low maternal weight at 32 weeks' gestation, and heavy smoking by the mother. 62% of the high-fetal risk group had one or more of these features, but so did 33% of the controls.