Human embryonic growth : Periconception parental and environmental factors

abstract

Prenatal growth in the second half of pregnancy and subsequent birth weight have been studied for decades and have been shown to be associated not only with pregnancy outcome but also with health and disease in adult life. Many parental and environmental factors during pregnancy have been shown to influence birth weight. Yet although the embryonic period is perhaps the most important period of prenatal development as this is the period in which organogenesis is completed, first trimester embryonic growth has received far less attention. In this thesis we studied human embryonic growth and associations with periconception parental and environmental exposures.