Fetal Programming

Last month, we talked about the environmental factors related to fertility and reproductive health. Yesterday’s L.A. Times takes the discussion a bit further with their article entitled, “Living for Two.”

What women eat, touch and breathe during pregnancy now appears to be more important to their babies’ health than anyone ever imagined. Mounting scientific evidence suggests that fetuses are surprisingly susceptible to outside influences, such as food, environmental chemicals and pollutants, infections, even stress. Under this theory — called fetal programming — babies are born not just with traits dictated by their parents’ genes, such as brown eyes and olive skin. They may be born with a tendency to develop asthma, diabetes or other illnesses based on what their mothers ate and were exposed to during pregnancy.

From working in the field of intellectual disabilities, I know that smoking while pregnant (and now studies show even exposure to secondhand smoke while carrying a child) can lead to low birth weight, higher odds of SIDS and increased chances of developmental delays. Alcohol consumption = higher risk of fetal alcohol syndrome. Mass consumption of the wrong kinds of fish = possibility of mercury poisoning. Ugh! As if the weight and stress of potential parenthood weren’t enough, how sobering to be reminded that there are tons of things that one can do wrong while pregnant to screw your little one over for life.

The good news is, fetal programming can also work for the benefit of you and your child. For example,

pregnant women consuming supplements of omega-3 fatty acids were more likely to have babies with good hand-eye coordination and language comprehension.

I, for one, am heartened by the idea that what I do, how I eat, how I think, if I am lucky enough to someday have a full womb, will influence the person that emerges just as much, if not more so, than genes. check out this post and the insightful comments on The Maybe Baby to continue the discussion.