Protecting Your Baby-To-Be: Preventing Birth Defects in the First Trimester [Hardcover]

Margie Profet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1995

Offers a Darwinian medical approach to the female body and details how pregnancy sickness naturally prevents birth defects by shielding the embryo from plant toxins, bacteria, and other substances. 75,000 first printing. $75,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Profet, an evolutionary biologist and winner of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship, theorizes that first-trimester pregnancy sickness is the body's way of protecting the embryo from foods that might cause birth defects. Addressing women in their first pregnancy, she "provides a framework for understanding why the first-trimester woman gets pregnancy sickness," then she offers practical advice. Writing in great detail and very lucidly, Profet asserts that hers is the only book she knows of that addresses the role of pregnancy sickness in protecting the developing embryo. She seems to be right. Written for the educated lay reader, this is recommended for consumer health collections.
Mary J. Jarvis, Methodist Hosp. Medical Lib., Lubbock, Tex.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Perseus Books (September 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 020140768X
• ISBN-13: 978-0201407686
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,542,874 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling and Logical, May 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Protecting Your Baby-To-Be: Preventing Birth Defects in the First Trimester (Hardcover)

Profet doesn't advocate foregoing all vegetables during pregnancy. Her thesis is that during the first trimester, when the embryo's organs are forming, women often have aversions to naturally occuring toxins found in spices, herbs, and bitter vegetables; this aversion, or "morning sickness", is a natural defense mechanism that may prevent women from ingesting too many natural toxins which can pose a threat to a first-trimester embryo. What this means is that you may not be able to stomach Brussels sprouts during the first trimester, but once you're safely in the second trimester you do need to resume eating the full spectrum of vegetables. An example of a naturally occuring toxin is capsaicin, which is found in hot peppers--this natural toxin is delicious and healthful to large organisms such as human adults, but it is a poison to insects and could potentially threaten a first-trimester embryo if consumed in large quantities. Certain spices, such as black pepper and nutmeg, can also be dangerous if consumed in large quantities (we're talking a handful here). Another example is less-than-fresh meats or dairy--first-trimester women have a natural aversion to these foods, which protects the embryo from bacteria. I found the book to be very interesting and compelling, and while Profet does NOT give pregnant women license to skip vegetables, she does encourage first-trimester women to listen to their bodies and favor low-toxin foods. Again, this book discusses the first trimester only.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting theory that can be alarming for many, June 17, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Protecting Your Baby-To-Be: Preventing Birth Defects in the First Trimester (Hardcover)

This book examines the biological purpose of "morning" sickness, and links the natural toxins produced by many plants to this phenomenon. According to the author and her research (which is still quite new and incomplete), these toxins, while harmless to adults can affect the development of the embryo. As a result, diet in the 1st trimester should take this into consideration. I have some doubts about the wisdom of foregoing vegetables at a time when such crucial development is occurring, and I found her book offered warnings without enough practical advice as to alternatives (other than bottled vitamins). It can offer the nautious woman some comfort, however, in knowing that there may be a good reason for her suffering.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Irresponsible and Bad Science, May 31, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Protecting Your Baby-To-Be: Preventing Birth Defects in the First Trimester (Hardcover)

Ever since reading this book I've been afraid of eating vegetables and my nausea has gotten alot worse. At first it sounds like a reasonable hypothesis that pregnancy sickness is nature's way of preventing the mother from consuming toxins during the critical 1st trimester. But not once does she ask the obvious question to support her thesis: whether women who do not get pregnancy sickness are more likely to have babies with defects and vice versa. The sum of her "scientific" research involved asking friends and relatives whether they remember having pregnancy sickness and using the sample of one poor woman who read about her theory and called to say that she did not experience any pregnancy sickness and had a child with multiple defects. How irresponsible to use one woman's sad story in lieu of scientific research. Furthermore, after listing a handful of foods with known toxins she goes on to discourage eating pretty much anything with a smell and strong flavor. Even if the tiny embryo doesn't need the nutrients at this stage, as she claims, certainly the mother-to-be does. Profet fails to mention that when you don't eat and burn up fat, your body produces ketones--which is also a toxin for the fetus, perhaps even more dangerous than these theoretical toxins Profet warns of.

If you want to feel guilty about everything you eat and end up eating very little, and thereby increasing your sickness, then get this book. Otherwise, there are plenty of books out there with better science and more balanced advice on what to eat and what not to eat.