Ethical issues in pregnancy pathology

Pregnancy and the birth of a child are one of the most beautiful and at the same time most difficult periods in a person's life. Although this period is short compared to the rest of life, lasting only about nine months, there are many dangers for mother and child during this period. On the one hand, thanks to advances in medicine and technology, maternal and neonatal care has helped to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. On the other hand, the possibilities of medicine are still limited. Currently, the various forms of pregnancy pathology are an incompletely solved problem. Their detection, as well as attempts to treat them, in some cases raise not only medical dilemmas, but also moral dilemmas that call for ethical consideration. For how should one act when faced with a conflict between the life of the mother and the unborn child? This study attempts to answer this question by providing some ethical guidelines which, when faced with a difficult decision as to how to proceed, may prove helpful not only to gynaecologists and obstetricians, but also to pastoralists, health professionals, parents, lawyers, psychologists or theologians.