A Visitor Within: The Science of Pregnancy

A Visitor Within: The Science of Pregnancy

by David Bainbridge (Author)

Synopsis

Pregnancy is a uniquely intimate relationship between two people. All of us luxuriate in this relationship once, and half of us are lucky enough to be able to do it all over again a second time. This tiny, greasy, pink baby that has just landed in our laps and looks as if it is trying to scream itself inside out - what sort of journey has brought it here? How are we able to make one of these amazing little people, who arise seemingly out of nothing? Written for the general reader, A Visitor Within reveals how pregnancy actually works. Why, for example, do women have a limited supply of eggs? How does an embryo halt its mother's menstrual cycle? How does a mother 'know' she is pregnant? How is a baby put together? Why does the mother accept the 'foreign' baby? How do mother and baby survive birth? Why are 'identical' twins never actually identical? Why do women undergo the menopause? In charting our progress with these and other questions, David Bainbridge tells the story of a single pregnancy from conception to breastfeeding.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 304
Edition: New
Publisher: Phoenix
Published: 05 Jul 2001

ISBN 10: 0753814188
ISBN 13: 9780753814185
Book Overview: First popular book to reveal how pregnancy really works - the scientific facts missing from 'how to' guides for mums Author is an expert on pregnancy in humans and other animals, so has a unique zoological and clinical perspective Draws together many areas of cutting-edge science - evolutionary biology, immunology, genetics, neuroscience 'This insight explodes of the page, as do many others throughout this book. It reads like a whodunnit. A ripping yarn and irresistible - I read it at one sitting. One is left wondering how pregnancy proceeds at all... You thought you were having a baby. This book shows that your baby is having you... Technicalities in this book are leavened by zinging metaphors and a racy prose style, making it pretty much an effortless read' MIRIAM STOPPARD, Times Higher Education Supplement

Author Bio
David Bainbridge was born breech into the world on 13 October 1968. He studied zoology and veterinary medicine at Cambridge University. After a brief sojourn in veterinary practice, he obtained a doctorate at the Institute of Zoology in London for work on early pregnancy in deer, before being let loose on the interactions between human babies and their mothers at Oxford University. He now lectures in comparative anatomy and physiology at the Royal Veterinary College in London. He lives in north Hertfordshire with his wife, daughter and supernumerary cats.