The medical significance of the obstetric history.

A carefully obtained obstetric history can provide the family physician with useful clues to his patients' health risks. A previous infant's birth weight and certain congenital malformations may indicate a predisposition to vascular hypertensive or diabetic illness. Additionally, if the family physician knows when his patients are planning pregnancies, he can help reduce exposure to teratogens during early pregnancy by discontinuing medications such as warfarin and phenytoin, by controlling blood glucose levels in diabetics and by counseling against the use of alcohol and tobacco.