Abstract: The development of ′Omic′（genomics，transcriptomics，proteomics，and metabolomics） technologies has been accelerated in the post-genomic era since ′Omic′molecules represent the interaction of genes and environment or the functional genome. Metabolomics is a post genomic research field concerned with developing methods for analysis of low molecular weight compounds in biological systems，such as cells，organs or organisms. Metabolomics strategies，employed analytical technologies and data analysis，are of particular interest in the search for predictive disease biomarkers and have additional relevance in understanding pathophysiology and the development of molecularly targeted therapeutics. Numerous analytical platforms have been used for metabolomics applications，such as NMR，Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR） and mass spectrometry （MS） coupled to separation techniques or using direct flow injection. This review discusses the advantages and disadvantages of widely employed techniques，putting the current status of the field of metabolomics in context，and providing examples of applications to obstetrics research.

Key words: Obstetrics, Magnetic resonance spectroscopy, Nuclear magnetic resonance, biomolecular, Mass spectrometry, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry