Placental evolution and dysfunction

Humans experience distinctly high rates of placental complications, impacting millions of pregnancies each year and contributing to tens of thousands of preventable deaths. Conditions like preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, preterm prelabor rupture of the membranes, placenta accreta, and placental abruption are all associated with impaired placentation and account for most severe pregnancy-related complications globally. These placental disorders are ubiquitous across human history, cultures, and diverse populations, and some have even been observed in our closest extant relatives, the African great apes. In comparison, disorders of placental invasion are relatively uncommon among other mammals.

I’m interested in finding the evolutionary drivers of human placental morphology which have shaped our risk for impaired placental invasion, with particular emphasis on the role of maternal-fetal conflict in driving placental evolution.