Fetal programming, or prenatal programming, is a concept that suggests certain events occurring during critical points of pregnancy may cause permanent effects on the fetus and the infant long after birth. The concept of fetal programming stemmed from the fetal origins hypothesis, also known as Barker’s hypothesis, that David Barker proposed in 1995 at the University of Southampton in Southampton, England. The fetal origins hypothesis states that undernutrition in the womb during middle to late pregnancy causes improper fetal growth, which in turn, causes a predisposition to certain diseases in adulthood. In addition to nutritional impacts, researchers have studied the fetal programming effects of many factors, such as maternal anxiety or violence during pregnancy. Researchers proposing the concept of fetal programming established a new area of research into the developmental causes of disease, pointing towards the in utero environment and its critical role in healthy human development.
Details
- Fetal Programming
- Keller, Carrie (Author)
- Darby, Alexis (Editor)
- Arizona State University. School of Life Sciences. Center for Biology and Society. Embryo Project Encyclopedia. (Publisher)
- Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
- Diabetes in pregnancy
- Maternal-Fetal Exchange
- Metabolism in pregnancy
- Maternal-Fetal Medicine
- Mothers--Nutrition
- Maternal Weight Gain
- Fetal Monitoring
- Fetal malnutrition
- Fetal behavior
- Fetal growth disorders
- Fetal Programming
- Embryonic and Fetal Development
- Prenatal Programming
- Embryo and Fetal Development
- Fetal Growth
- fetal development
- Fetal Therapies
- Fetal Nutrition Disorders
- Fetal Organ Maturity
- Fetal Mortality
- Fetal Maturity, Chronologic
- Body Weight, Fetal
- Fetal Weight
- Heart Diseases
- Myocardial Ischemia
- Ischemic Heart Disease
- Gestational Diabetes
- Reproduction
- Concept
- Processes
- Theories
- fetal origins hypothesis
- thrifty phenotypes hypothesis
- fetal adaptations
- anxiety during pregnancy