The Short Life of the Pregnant Fetus

The news of Mary Lambert's pregnant fetus spread like wildfire across the intertubes, the flames fanned by social media.

A pregnant woman in Portland, Oregon was hospitalized this week with extreme stomach pains, and doctors were extremely shocked at what they discovered.

Mary Lambert, who is 8 months pregnant, went to Silverstein Memorial Hospital in Portland when she thought she might be going into labor. Doctors examined her, and initially could not figure out what was causing Lambert’s pain. After an ultrasound to check on her baby, they were taken aback to find that her unborn daughter was also pregnant.

“I have never in my life seen anything like this.” Said Dr. Joseph Goldsmith, a pediatric surgeon at Silverstein. “I don’t think anyone has. This is the first time that an unborn baby has become impregnated. It’s so far beyond rare that we didn’t know it was possible.”

There was an obvious reason that this complication is so rare - it's a Hoax.

... But, of course, the report is fanciful nonsense. No unborn baby is pregnant, in Oregon, or anywhere else. The fictional report originates from the fake-news website, Empire News.

In fact, nothing published on Empire News is true. A disclaimer on the site notes: Empire News is a satirical and entertainment website. We only use invented names in all our stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.

The internet is replete with tall tales and rumor-mongering. It pays to check out the sources before passing on incredible stories. Be careful out there.

One final note - there is a condition called Fetus In Fetu which can occur as a complication of embryogenesis during a twin pregnancy. In this condition, a nonviable twin fetus becomes enclosed within a normally developing twin fetus. This condition became the inspiration for Stephen King's The Dark Half. This, however, is far from the short-lived saga of the pregnant fetus.

For more information or to schedule a sonogram, please call (718) 925-6277.

Nature Or Nurture

We all have heard the saying, "You are what you eat." Now there may be evidence that statement may apply to developing fetuses too. Research shows that a mother's diet around the time of conception can permanently influence her baby's DNA.

... Scientists followed 84 pregnant women who conceived at the peak of the rainy season, and about the same number who conceived at the peak of the dry season.

Nutrient levels were measured in blood samples taken from the women; while the DNA of their babies was analysed two to eight months after birth.

Lead scientist Dr Branwen Hennig, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said it was the first demonstration in humans that a mother's nutrition at the time of conception can change how her child's genes will be interpreted for life.

She told BBC News: "Our results have shown that maternal nutrition pre-conception and in early pregnancy is important and may have implications for health outcomes of the next generation.

"Women should have a well-balanced food diet prior to conception and during pregnancy."

What's going on here? Epigenetics, functionally relevant changes to the genome that do not involve a change in the nucleotide sequence.

...One such modification involves attaching chemicals called methyl groups to DNA.

Infants from rainy season conceptions had consistently higher rates of methylation in all six genes studied, the researchers found.

These were linked to various levels of nutrients in the mother's blood.

But it is not yet known what the genes do, and what effect the process might have.

The study, published in Nature Communications, demonstrates that a mother's diet can have epigenetic effects.

So which is it - Nature or Nurture? The answer may truly be both.

For more information, or to schedule an ultrasound, please call: (718) 925-6277