It was only 10 years ago that biologists were describing the fetus as a fortress, immune to anything the mother might eat, drink or inhale. Today, however, we know different. A mother who smokes or drinks alcohol can affect her baby, and the unborn child’s healthy development can also be impaired by malnutrition, obesity, infection and autoimmune conditions.
These recent discoveries have unlocked billions of dollars of research funding as scientists have scrambled to understand the inexorable rise of autism in children and its possible link to toxins crossing the placenta. In the US, the incidence of autism is increasing by around 24 percent every two years, and America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
