ABSTRACT
It is generally believed that the menstrual cycle is nonexistent during pregnancy; some women have a little vaginal bleeding at the time of their first missed period, and this, for some reason, is known as the placental sign. It is possible that the diet used by Ingier may have lacked other vitamins besides vitamin C, but similar observations by subsequent workers have confirmed that ascorbic acid deficiency can cause serious problems in pregnancy, both in guinea pigs and in human beings. The maternal mortality rate per pregnancy in the 8-mg group was half that in the 2-mg group, but the overall death rate was higher in the 8-mg group due to the greater number of pregnancies. In addition to the transfer of ascorbic acid to the fetus, many factors, including corysa, pyelonephritis, trauma, surgery, or sickle-cell crisis, may interfere with ascorbic acid metabolism during or after pregnancy, but they are not peculiar to pregnancy.
