Nutrition in Pregnancy

Abstract

Cambridge) commented on the remarkable adaptability during pregnancy of the maternal organism and of the developing young., This was shown in the great variation in the length of pregnancy in different species and stiU more in the same species when pregnancy had been artificially extended by experimental means. He also referred to multiple pregnancies in which young were able to develop in increased numbers. The increase waa, however, strictly limited and corpora lutea were, undoubtedly, indirectly a factor in foetal nutrition. Foetal DevelopmentMr. A. W. Bourne (12 Wimpole Street, London, W.1) I n such an immense field of knowledge and work as that of foetal development it is possible to discuss only one small aspect. It is proposed, therefore, to look a t the subject from the point of view of the obstetrician, that is, of one who sees something of the processes of human reproduction and the quality of the child.The factors which contribute to the ideal normal results of reproduction for both mother and child are very many and of differing importance but, of all these, we know that food, which embodies an adequate supply of all the nutrients, is the most important in the aggregate. The results of a field survey in South Wales under the direction of Lady Rhys Williams (Williams, 1936-37, 1, 2) illustrate broadly the effect of improving the food supply of pregnant women; they are s5t out in Table 1.