Life Before Birth

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30710, 27 March 1965, Page 4

Life Before Birth

Life Before Birth. What affects your baby between conception and birth. By Ashley, Montagu. W. H. Allen.

Thousands of pregnant women will read this book, and gain from it much practical advice and great admiration for the progress being made by doctors and scientists in this exciting field of knowledge. Still others, however, will panic at the thought that by smoking, or having an X-ray at the dentist, or using an aerosol fly-killer, they have been submitting their unborn child to unexpectedly grave risks. It is as well that a sensible foreword has been written to the book, putting the material in its true perspective for the layman. Indeed, first, the foreword seems extraordinary Dr. Alan F. Guttmacher advises the reader to take the whole book with a grain of salt, and when in doubt to disregard it altogether. But such a foreword should perhaps be provided for every book popularising medical knowledge, to calm the fears of the halfinformed. Dr. Montagu is concerned with detecting and eliminating where possible all prenatal influences which may cause any abnormality in the new-born baby. The thalidomide crisis dramatised the importance of this question recently, but it has always been a subject of fascination. Many an old wives tale pivots on the belief that a woman's emotional and physical experiences have a direct influence on the baby she is carrying. It is absorbing to learn to what extent science now confirms this presumption.

The study of pre-natal influences is complicated by the interdependence of many factors. For example, a woman’s severe emotional stress during pregnancy can certainly cause her baby to suffer from irritability, feeding difficulties, excessive crying and vomiting. But a woman who is suffering from fatigue is far more liable to become emotionally unstable, and a woman who is not receiving a correct diet is more rapidly over-tired. How is one to decide on a sole'

cause of her baby’a condition —is it fatigue, emotional stress or malnutrition? Social and economic conditions are at the root of many difficul- , ties in pregnancy and childbirth. There are numerous facts and theories expounded in this book which will interest or even astonish the reader. While smoking is believed to be a potential menace to the fetus, a pregnant woman can drink almost unlimited amounts of alcohol without fear of damaging her child—so, ladies, select your vice with forethought. The diet of the mother has a tremendous influence on the development of her child; even labour lasts only about half as long for a woman who has been eating sensibly than for a poorly-nourished woman of a similar background. Anoxia, or oxygen lack, is a cause of brain damage of many sorts, including cerebral palsy, epilepsy,- mental retardation, some mental illness,, reading difficulties, and even uncontrolled behaviour in children. Although the age of the mother has relevance to the health, the intelligence and the sex of her child, there is no scientific support for the belief that the last of “too many children” is more likely to be abnormal than the others. It is the mother’s age which is of more importance in such a case. These. examples are but a sample of | the interesting information to be found in this book, which! is written in a thoroughly! readable style.