ABSTRACT
Some epidemiologists have endeavored to derive subsets of women who would have good nutrition, live at sea level, are nonsmoking, and do not drink alcohol. Addictive drugs other than alcohol and tobacco affect fetal development but they are, so far, abused less in the Western World than are the two major toxic agents of society. The effect of opiates alone is hard to apportion for many other social, medical, and biological co-variables exist alongside the actual taking of an addictive drug. Probably the best identified cause of intrauterine growth retardation among babies born to women in the Western World are hypertensive diseases, either preexisting pregnancy or coming on during the pregnancy itself. Some workers estimate that both sets of hypertensive conditions are responsible for up to a third of all fetal growth retardation.
