Reproductive Clinical Chemistry

Laboratory testing for pregnancy has become so commonplace that it is now commercially available to the public as an “over-the-counter” point-of-care test. Beyond the laboratory confirmation of pregnancy, however, the clinical laboratory also plays an important role in the diagnosis of male infertility through semen analysis, in the determination and monitoring of fetal lung maturity and hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn through amniotic fluid analysis, in monitoring for pre-eclampsia through serum biomarkers, and in the monitoring of pre-term birth and premature rupture of the membranes through analysis of cervicovaginal secretions.