Maternal Health and Congenital Defect

Abstract

ANIMAL experiments have shown that exposure of pregnant females to certain noxious agents may result in death or malformation of their progeny. In women rubella during early pregnancy is associated with certain defects in the fetus, but little is known of the importance of other infections or environmental factors. Investigations of the influence of maternal health during the first few months of pregnancy have been unsatisfactory when made after the birth of the child; an accurate history of events six to nine months earlier is difficult to obtain, and bias is introduced by the mother's knowledge of the outcome. For . . .