How Does a Mother Feed Her Unborn Baby

If you've ever had a family member get pregnant you've probably wondered what they can and can't eat while carrying their babies for 9 months. What is more likely to lead to a healthy baby and what are some foods that could actually harm the fetus and lead to complications in a baby?

Turns out that according to Parenting Science, " A fetus begins swallowing amniotic fluid at around 12 weeks, and by 28 weeks, an unborn baby is developing a powerful sense of smell". It said that studies have also found that babies can recognize the smell of their own amniotic sacs and prefer breasts dabbed with foods their mothers consume during pregnancy.  In this particular study scientists tried to see a pregnant woman's food choices could affect her baby's food preferences after it was born. Julia Mennella and her colleagues gathered a group of 46 pregnant women and told some to:

1. Drink water during the pregnancy and stop after the baby was born

or

2. Drink water during the pregnancy and begin drinking carrot juice after the baby is born

or

3. Drink water only and completely avoid carrot juice altogether

So what they tested was the "effects of flavored amniotic fluids on fetus and babies" (1), the "effects of consuming milk that carry the flavor or carrots" (2), and compare those effects to those of fetus's who did not come into contact with carrot juice at all during the pregnancy.

The results showed that in fact, most children who were exposed to the carrot flavored juice prenatally and while breast-feeding preferred carrot flavored cereal over plain cereal 5 months after they had been born. They also made fewer negative facial expressions to carrot-flavored cereal. Additionally, researchers observed that there was no effect for children who did not come into contact with carrot juice prenatally or when breast-feeding.

This study is a controlled study but we do not know if It was randomized, therefore that lack of knowledge prevents us from fully trusting its results. The overall size of the pregnant women could have also impacted the study since only 46 pregnant women were tested and divided into 3 groups which would render around 15 women per regimen which makes the results more prone to chance or inaccuracy. We also don't know what the women's eating habits were or if they ate more carrots or drank different juices with carrots in them which could've affected the results of the study.

However, we shouldn't completely ignore the findings because if, in fact children's eating preferences are influenced by their mother's eating habits while they're in the uterus and when they are breast-feeding this could lead to great theories on wide-spread obesity and other diseases caused by the eating habits of children and adolescents. In other words, if their pregnant mothers eat certain foods and indirectly induce their babies to eat them as well after being born, by telling mothers to completely avoid junk food and other unhealthy foods children could potentially be turned away from eating those foods later on in life. This prevention could maybe have a big impact on decreasing childhood and adolescent obesity as well as other diseases like diabetes.

Additionally, a study posted on The Journal of Physiology performed experiments in which 114 rats were studied and impregnated rats were given junk food and some were given healthy foods. The results showed that mothers who had been fed foods high on fat and considered "junk foods" gave birth to offspring that had a predisposition to eat those same sorts of "junk foods" and weighted more than their rat counterparts whose mothers ate a regular, healthy diet prenatally. The findings also showed that the rate of obesity and weight gain was much higher in offspring who ate healthy foods after being born from a mother who only ate junk food during pregnancy than those who ate unhealthy foods after being born from mothers who were given healthy foods while they were impregnated. The mothers who were fed high-fat foods also gave birth to offspring who had a higher propensity to eating those junk foods as children.

There is no doubt that this study was a randomized control trial and there were enough test subjects to get an accurate result free from error. However there are still possibilities of a false positive and a potential fluke, even if it is only a 5% chance. There is no problem with the Texas sharpshooter problem in the study because scientists were testing for weight gain and predisposition to eating certain junk foods in offspring after being born. The only problem people can find with this study is that it wasn't done on humans, but animals. However, the rat's physiology is very similar to human physiology and if these foods can affect these animals I would say there is a high chance it could also affect us. Additionally, a study in humans would be unethical because of complications that could potentially arise in pregnant woman and babies from eating unhealthy foods.

So the question is, should pregnant woman completely avoid unhealthy foods to prevent risks for obesity and other diseases in their child's future? I believe that these studies would drive me to stop consuming all sorts of junk foods to protect my baby and his/her health, especially since my family history is comprised of members with diabetes, cancer, heart disease and high cholesterol. Though many of these findings may not be enough to turn some people away from eating what they like and following the cravings of pregnancy, to me they are sufficient enough to change my diet completely if I ever become pregnant. Hopefully as more studies and meta analysis are conducted more data will be found and if it turns out that, in fact, women should not eat these foods maybe we would see a reduction in childhood and adolescent obesity and other diseases associated with unhealthy diets.

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Source: https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa15/2015/10/18/how-can-foods-consumed-during-pregnancy-affect-babies/

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