Immediate information expected by the neonatologist from the placenta.

As the obstetrician attends to the mother and the pediatrician to the child, the placenta often tends to be ignored. Nevertheless, essential anamnestic information about the condition of a newborn infant, and especially of a premature, can be gained from careful scrutiny of the placenta and fetal membranes. This paper emphasizes the importance of gross examination of the placenta and membranes as a source of immediate information to the pediatrician within the delivery room.