Together with Consulting Editor Dr. William Rayburn, Drs. D. Michael Nelson and Leslie Myatt have put together a unique issue that discusses The Human Placenta in Health and Disease.  Expert authors have contributed clinical review articles on the following topics: Why obstetricians know the future health of the babies they deliver; How obstetricians can predict the future health of mothers after a complicated pregnancy; What obstetricians need to know about placental pathology; Immunology of the placenta; Diabetes mellitus, obesity, and the placenta; Intrauterine growth restriction and placental dysfunction; The placenta as the root cause for preeclampsia; Placental anatomy and function in twin gestations; Placental implantation disorders: accreta, previa, and abruptio placentae; Key infections in the placenta; Chorioamnion function in normal and abnormal pregnancy; The future for imaging modalities of the human placenta; Artificial reproductive technologies and the decidual and placental development interface;  and When the fetus goes still and the birth is tragic: The role of the placenta in stillbirths. Readers will come away with the clinical information they need to improve outcomes in the women, mothers, and infants.