Using 1978 data from the Massachusetts Birth and Death Registry, examined the effects of WIC prenatal participation. Found that increased WIC participation was associated with enhanced pregnancy outcomes, but suggested that other causal factors also should be considered. (GC)

Behavioral scientists are using established experimental methods to show that fetuses can and do learn. The methodology employed and results obtained from several studies are reported. (JN)

Preliminary research findings showed that infants who received systematic prenatal musical stimulation exhibit remarkable attention behaviors, imitate accurately sounds made by adults, and appear to structure vocalization much earlier than infants who did not have prenatal musical stimulation. This evidence could radically modify concepts of music…

Studied the maternal plasmatic zinc behavior at delivery time and the cord blood zinc concentration from appropriate and low-birth-weight full-term infants and appropriate preterm infants. Findings indicated that neither prematurity nor fetal growth delay interfere in maternal or newborn infants' zinc levels. (BJD)

Children (N=434) with nonsyndromic mental retardation were analysed for frequency of prenatal, perinatal and infantile biological disturbances. Mildly retarded individuals of unrelated parentage, both idiopathic and familial, had a strikingly higher prevalence of disturbances than a control group of retarded individuals with consanguineous parents…

Describes knowledge, attitudes and intervention policies regarding fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol effects among obstetricians and gynecologists (N=1,128) in New York State. Survey results showed that subjects were well-informed about FAS, and almost all advised their obstetric patients to abstain or limit their alcohol intake. (LLL)

The author suggests that more empirical evidence will have to be found before environmental influence can be declared insufficient to the cause of Negro-White I.Q. score differences. (Editor/RT)

The article explores recent findings on Fatal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), patterns of malformation, alcohol and other drugs, the toxicity of ethanol, the incidence of FAS, and implications of the syndrome. (Author)

Rubella vaccine challenge was used with 15 autistic and eight control children (3-10 years old) in an attempt to retrospectively diagnose prenatal rubella in autistic children. (Author/SBH)

Associations between antenatal maternal anxiety, measured with the State Trait Anxiety Inventory, and disorders in 8- and 9-year-olds were studied prospectively in 71 normal mothers and their 72 firstborns. Clinical scales were completed by the mother, the child, the teacher, and an external observer. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses…

Longitudinal neurobehavioral development was examined in 237 fetuses of low-risk pregnancies from 2 distinct populations-Baltimore, Maryland, and Lima, Peru-at 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, and 38 weeks gestation. Data were based on digitized Doppler-based fetal heart rate (FHR) and fetal movement (FM). In both groups, FHR declined while variability,…

Previous studies of children with in-utero drug exposure (IUDE) raise concerns that decreased head circumference (HC) at birth increases the child's risk for later compromised cognitive functioning. The purpose of this study was to determine if HC at birth and HC growth change are associated with cognitive functioning (IQ) at 36 months of age in…