Abortion maternal diet

The human fetus absorbs ascorbic acid from the placenta (124) and restrictions of women s diet during pregnancy lead occasionally to abortion but not to deprivation of the fetus (126). The fetus seems to draw the vitamin C from the mother as long as appreciable amounts of ascorbic acid are present in the maternal plasma (126). Several studies have shown that the vitamin C content of the blood plasma of the fetus is higher than that of the mother (126, 127, 128, 129). The fetus seems to act parasitically on the mother with respect to vitamin C and vitamin C deficiency is not rare in pregnancy and puerperium (126, 130, 131). In spite of its parasitical action the fetus does not always obtain the required amounts of vitamin C from the mother and congenital scurvy occurs in man (132). 

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