PRENATAL INFLUENCES

Infant & Toddler Development

What is a teratogen?
Toxic agents in the environment that are
capable of causing developmental
abnormalities or birth defects.

NUTRITION
A fetus, malnourished in the womb,
may never make up for the brain cells
and structures that never came properly
into being. Malnutrition both before and
after birth virtually dooms a child to
stunted brain development and
therefore to considerable diminished
mental capacity for the rest of his life.

Drugs and Chemical Agents

Social Drugs

Alcohol
Smoking
Cocaine
Marijuana

Medications
Accutane
Thalidomide
Echinacea + St.
Johns Wart
Aspirin, Tylenol,
Ibuprofen

Diseases

Rubella
Syphilis
Genital Herpes
Fifth Disease
Toxoplasmosis
AIDS
Chicken Pox
CMV (Cytomegalovirus)

OTHER FACTORS...
Stress
Mercury
Rodents
Radiation
Maternal and paternal age