Maternal Impressions Research Articles

MARY TOFT OF GODLYMAN, ENGLAND, AND HER EXTRAORDINARY DELIVERY OF SEVENTEEN RABBITS IN 1726

In 1726 the English medical world was split into factions of believers and nonbelievers by the report of two physicians that Mary Toft of Godlyman in the County of Surrey had given birth to seventeen rabbits. She attributed the occurrence of this remarkable event to maternal impressions: As she was weeding in a Field, she saw a Rabbet spring up near her after which she ran with another Woman that was at work just by her: this set her a longing for Rabbets, being then, as she thought, five Weeks gone with Child; the other Woman perceiving she was uneasy, charged her with longing for the Rabbet they cou'd not catch, but she deny'd it: soon after another Rabbet sprung up near the same place, which she endeavour'd likewise to catch. The same Night she dreamt that she was in a Field with those two Rabbets in her Lap and awaked with a sick Fit which lasted till Morning; from that time for above three Months, she had a constant and strong desire to eat Rabbets, but being very poor and indigent cou'd not procure any.1 Mr. John Howard, the surgeon who attended the confinement, further certified that "when she was delivered of one Rabbet, another was immediately felt in her Belly struggling with such Violence that the Motion thereof cou'd be sensibly felt and seen." In all, seventeen rabbits were delivered at short intervals. King George I considered this event of such importance that he sent his own surgeon, Mr. Nathanael St. André (1680-1776), to investigate, and then Sir Richard Manningham (1690-1759), a distinguished accoucheur and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians; the latter by threat of an operation extracted a full confession of the hoax by which Mrs. Toft had expected to obtain money from the sympathetic and curious.2

THE POWER OF MATERNAL IMPRESSION CAUSES THE ALLEGED FATHER'S NAME TO APPEAR IN LEGIBLE LETTERS IN HIS INFANT SON'S RIGHT EYE (1817)

During the 19th century the question of maternal impressions was still unresolved. A curious example of the putative power of this phenomenon is given below. A similar instance was reported about 1825 by Dr. Munro of Edinburgh who frequently exhibited a child in whose eyes many persons imagined they could read the name and age of his father. A young woman in Galloway [Scotland] having proved with child, laid the same to a respectable man of the name John Woods, who denied being the father of the same, and persisted in his denial saying that he would never acknowledge the child unless his name was written at full length on its face; and he accordingly gave his solemn oath before the court to that effect. This made so much impression on the mind of the young woman, who was present, that his name and person remained constantly in her mind's eye, and when the child was born, the name of the father appeared in legible letters in the child's eye, the name of "JOHN WOODS," on the right eye, and "BORN 1817" on the left eye. When John Woods, the alleged father, came to know this circumstance, he instantly absconded and has not since been heard of. This wonderful child has now arrived in this city [Edinburgh], and has been inspected by the Professors and other learned Faculties of this city, and pronounced to be a most wonderful phenomenon of nature, and an astonishing dispensation of Providence in pointing out the truth against the wicked and perjured ways of men.

Clinical, biochemical, and experimental studies on lactation: V. Clinical effects of steroids on the initiation of lactation

In a double blind study, 40 women delivered by cesarean section were divided into four groups, and were given either placebo, estrogen, progestogen, or a combination of these daily for 14 days, starting on the second day postpartum. The criteria chosen to assess the results (subjective maternal impressions, milk yield, and changes in babies' weights) showed increased milk production in all medicated groups compared to the controls.

DR. THOMAS MORGAN ROTCH WRITING IN 1903 LEAVES UNANSWERED THE ROLE OF MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS DURING PREGNANCY AS A CAUSE OF PHYSICAL OR MENTAL DEFECT IN THE INFANT

The idea that abnormalities in the infant may be produced by impressions on the pregnant woman's imagination dates back to the earliest days of medicine. Even Dr. Thomas Morgan Rotch, Professor of Pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School, seemed unwilling to give up this hypothesis as late as 1903, as seems apparent in the following quotation from his famous textbook of pediatrics: A few words should be said concerning the subject of maternal impressions. For many years there has been accumulating a considerable amount of evidence showing that a violent mental impression made upon a woman who is at the time carrying a child may be followed by a physical or mental defect in the child which bears a striking relation in character to the impression made upon the mother. Thus, Sir Walter Scott narrates that King James the First could not endure the sight of a drawn sword. This feeling had been attributed by those who believe in maternal impressions to the terror which his mother experienced at witnessing the murder of Rizzio. Still more numerous are the facts adduced to prove that bodily defects, such as harelip, club-foot, and hairy mole, may be caused by strong impressions of pain or terror experienced by the mother at the time when the foetus is in a certain stage of intra-uterine development. Interesting as these instances are, it is the general belief that nothing more has been proved than that they depend on a coincidence. The final decision on this obscure subject must rest on future investigation, and until something more definite is known we should guard a woman during her pregnancy from all unpleasant impressions with far more care than we do at present.1

A treatise on harelip and cleft palate

Congenital clefts and Gsures are the result of arrested development. Fusion of the globular and maxillary, and the palatal processes in the embryo is completed about the end of the third month of fetal life, so that interference with development takes place prior to that time and continues. Many causes have been given for arrested development, but none have been found to sufficiently explain its occurrence in all cases. The most important causes are faulty nutrition, heredity, and maternal impression. The influence of faulty nutrition has not been clearly proveId in t,he human race, as women who received the most liberal and nourishing diet during the entire period of gestation have frequently given birth to children with clefts. On the contrary, women who existed on the most meager diet and on one or two varieties of food during the entire period of gestation have given birth to perfectly developed children. In animals, especially the lion, the influence of faulty nutrition has been repeatedly proved in the zoological gardens of London and Dublin. The process of growth and developlment depends upon the formation of loops of blood vessels in the embryonic tissue, which become organized tissue. In defective vascular supply may be found a probable cause of arrested development and this would explain its occurrence in early fetal life and at the terminal distribution of the vascular supply. The vascu1a.r supply to the right half of the head is greater than to the left. This probably accounts for the most frequent occurrence of the clefts of the lips and alveolar process on the left side. The frequent occurrence of clefts in the descendants of those who had clefts and in members of the same family points strongly to heredity. In many cases the occurrence of the affliction does not take place until the second, third, or fourth generation. At present the influence of maternal impressions cannot be absolutely denied, but the mother will state positively, that she had not the maternal impressions during gestation, and in many cases where strong maternal impressions existed, the offspring was perfectly developed. Many eminent obstetricians have admitted the possibility of maternal impression being the cause. Clefts may be the result of syphilis. Such clefts should rarely, i.f ever, be operated upon, as union seldom takes place and the operation frequently results in increased destruction of tissue.

The Folklore of Children's Diseases

THE folklore of children's diseases is very extensive, including as it does popular conceptions of the acute exanthemata and other infectious diseases, especially whooping-cough and diphtheria, rheumatic fever, venereal infections, cardiac, alimentary and respiratory disorders, as well as isolated diseases, especially enuresis, infantile convulsions, rickets, hernia and the supposed effect of the Evil Eye. Time does not allow me to discuss the folklore of all these diseases, some of which I have dealt with elsewhere, but I have tried to select the most interesting material. Aetiology. Belief in the doctrine of maternal impressions, of which numerous examples have been collected by Gould and Pyle,' is still far from extinct, even among medical practitioners, although there is no scientific foundation for such a view. Some years ago 2 1 showed a case of giant naevus of tippet distribution before the Children's Section of the Royal Society of Medicine, in a girl aged seven, whose mother had been frightened in the third or fourth month Qf pregnancy by a black and tan dog. In spite of her doctor's assurance to the contrary she was convinced that the child would be marked, and her surmise proved correct. In the subsequent discussion the president of the section expressed his belief in the reality of maternal impressions, and quoted a similar case. The recognition of astrology by orthodox medical practitioners survived till the eighteenth century, as is shown by Mead's work.3 Kircher (quoted by Pettigrew 4) alluded to the evil effects of a conjunction of Mars and Saturn, which he states emitted very deadly exhalations, and such diseases as small-pox, measles and fever become inevitable. A puny child who does not thrive is often regarded, especially in countries bordering on the Mediterranean, as suffering from a visitation

How I was Born: the Plain Story of Birth and Sex

IN this book, Mr. Bryan makes a sensible and interesting contribution to the literature of sex and its human significance. He gives a plain and straightforward statement which could be read with advantage by both adolescents and adults. There is nothing of a pornographic or even emotional character in the book, but much information which should afford wise guidance to healthy life and parentage. Among the many subjects clearly discussed are birth-control, sex determination, maternal impressions, inbreeding and heredity, hybrids and venereal disease. Many common fallacies are unveiled and curious cases described. In every respect the author has been successful in his endeavour to place before general readers the main facts relating to the whole range of sex

Telegony

THE belief in telegony is probably as old as the belief in maternal impressions, so intimately associated with Jacob's breeding experiments, recorded in the thirtieth chapter of the Book of Genesis. In prehistoric times, when breeds of sheep and cattle brought from the East by the Alpine race were crossed with the more recently formed European breeds striking new varieties;would now and again appear. The ancient shepherds would doubtless endeavour to account for the differences between the cross-bred offspring and their pure-pred ancestors, and later biologists would be called upon to decide which of the views of the ancient breeders were most worthy of support.

Maternal Impressions.

Maternal Impressions.

Maternal Impressions.

Aikin, Mich., March 14, 1903. <h3>To the Editor:</h3> —Baby S., a healthy seven-pound female baby, was born at full term on March 1, 1903. She has a prominent birthmark covering the left thumb and upper part of the arm, over the shoulder and slightly down the back. The mother had an accident three months before delivery. She was wearing an outing-flannel gown, the left sleeve of which was lighted from a match, and in a flash an area of the sleeve corresponding to the baby's birthmark was burned.

SOME CAUSES OF CONGENITAL DEFORMITIES.

As pliant twig by fair and careful bending, In perfect trunk of future tree will show, So in this life of Fate's mysterious sending, Our ends by our beginnings we shall know. More attention is given each year to preventive measures against disease, and we who stand on the watch-towers guarding humanity, have a right to inquire into the origin of these little charges; we are allowed to go behind the boards and investigate the cause of the defects. We find anomalies much less frequent in animals than in man, and less common in the negro race than in the white. There is a vast amount of superstitious material concerning maternal impressions. Here are specimens of such old folk lore. One woman, two and a half months pregnant, goes to the kitchen, and in searching for a match in the darkness, puts her hand on a fish that her husband

MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS.

The definition of maternal impressions is that a profound and sudden impression made on the mother's mind may pervert or stop the growth, or cause defect in the child with which she is pregnant. Maternal influences over the young have been recognized from the earliest history of man. The thirtieth chapter of Genesis gives Jacob's policy whereby he became rich. He pilled the rods of green poplar, hazel and chestnut and set them before Laban's herd and by maternal impressions he colored enough of the herd in ten or a dozen years to become rich. And the next chapter tells us of Rachel's influence over Joseph and Benjamin to impress the race of mankind. While this force has been recognized among all nations of people, it is only in the last few years that an attempt has been made to separate the truisms from the superstitions on this subject. In

MONSTROSITIES AND MATERNAL IMPRESSIONS.

Whether maternal impressions do or do not influence fœtal development, is a question still before the profession. It is not my purpose to discuss this question, but simply to place on record two exceedingly interesting cases. Though we may not offer an explanation of maternal impressions, yet that is no argument against the existence of such influences. There is such a thing as establishing a fact by accumulated evidence; and should this contribution be the means of starting a series of well-authenticated reports, we might, ere long, point to the convincing evidence of maternal impressions. The first case occurred in the practice of Dr. Ritter, of West Baden, Orange Co., Ind. The history is, briefly, as follows: The doctor was called, August 24, 1885, to a young woman, 22 years of age, a primipara, who had completed her seventh month of pregnancy. She was in heavy labor, which was terminated

Maternal Impressions on the Fœtus in Utero

Maternal Impressions on the Fœtus in Utero

Maternal Impressions and Congenital Deformities

Maternal Impressions and Congenital Deformities

Maternal Impressions and Congenital Deformities

Maternal Impressions and Congenital Deformities

Maternal Impressions and Congenital Deformities

Maternal Impressions and Congenital Deformities

Heredity and Maternal Impressions in Relation to Congenital Deformities

Heredity and Maternal Impressions in Relation to Congenital Deformities

Maternal Impressions: A Consideration of the Effect of Mental Disturbance during Pregnancy, upon the Intellectual Development of the Child

Maternal Impressions: A Consideration of the Effect of Mental Disturbance during Pregnancy, upon the Intellectual Development of the Child

Maternal Impressions

Maternal Impressions