Pregnancy and Beyond Part IV: Microgravity.

Transport technology in the last 35 years has created new environmental frontiers in which family physicians are, and will continue to be, involved both in research and in administering patient care. Some frontiers address basic physiological problems that cross over into others. In a series of four articles, the author describes six of these frontiers with specific emphasis on pregnancy, from hyperbarism (undersea physiology) to microgravity (space physiology), the problems, and linkages where evident. This fourth article covers the known and postulated effects of microgravity on pregnancy well-being.