Platelet disorders in pregnancy

Before the advent of automated cell counters, thrombocytopenia was looked f or and identified after a clinical question. With automation, thrombocytope nia in pregnancy was commonly found, and with its commonality its clinical meaning went out of focus. For the majority of women, thrombocytopenia is b enign and, as a marker of fetal thrombocytopenia, the value of maternal thr ombocytopenia is almost non-existent. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol 13:115-119 ( C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.