[Pregnancy and work]

In the last decades there has been an increase of women's presence in the working field. That has been a consequence of the use of an advanced technology, of a different organization of work, of the rules about men/women equality, as wellas of the women's emancipation. As a result women have been exposed to a greater amount of risks both for their health and for their reproductive function. In this work, we highlighted the pathogenic effects resulting from the interaction of different substances present in the working place with the female organism, with special interest in the effects on pregnancy. Furthermore, we laid stress on the rules and on the guidelines that safeguard women's right to work as well as their right to be mothers both at a national and at an european level.