De plantas y hombre: cómo los genetistas se vincularon a la eugenesia en Brasil (un estudio de caso 1929-1933) / Of plants and men: how geneticists were linked to eugenics in Brazil (1929-1933)

En el presente artículo pretendemos reflexionar sobre la trayectoria de Octávio Domingues (1897-1972) y Salvador Toledo Piza Jr. (1898-1988), dos genetistas de una escuela agrícola del Estado de São Paulo que se vincularon al principal propagador de la eugenesia en Brasil, Renato Kehl (1889-1974). Ese acercamiento se concretó en su asociación alrededor de la publicación del Boletim de Eugenia, importante vehículo de divulgación del movimiento eugenésico entre los años 1929 y 1933. A partir del análisis de esa publicación periódica, ha sido posible detectar que, aunque los dos partían de la teoría mendeliana de la herencia, Toledo Piza Jr. consideraba el mestizaje de la población brasileña como algo que iba en contra de la naturaleza, mientras que Octávio Domingues la juzgaba saludable (AU)

The aim of this article is to analyse the trajectory of Octávio Domingues (1897-1972) and Salvador de Toledo Piza Jr. (1898-1988), two geneticists in the Agricultural School of São Paulo State, who engaged with the main propagandist for the eugenics in Brazil, Renato Kehl (1889-1974). This approach is embodied in its association surrounding the publication of the Boletim de Eugenia, an important vehicle for the dissemination of the eugenics movement between the years 1929 and 1933. From the analysis of this journal, it was possible to detect that even sharing both Mendelian theory of heredity, Toledo Piza Jr. considered miscegenation of the Brazilian population as something against nature, while Octávio Domingues judged it healthy (AU)

Experience of the Hungarian Preconception Service between 1984 and 2010.

The objective of this historical account is to summarize the concept, objectives, methods, results and general experience of the Hungarian Preconception Service, Budapest, based on 27 years (1984-2010) and 25,313 women and couples. The service includes counseling and care (examinations and medical interventions) based on three steps: (1) preconception screening for reproductive risk factors ("reproductive health check-up"), (2) a 3-month preparation for conception, because conception is when some major developmental events, such as the sex of the conceptus and the foundation of health and many diseases, are determined, and (3) achievement of optimal conception and better protection of the embryo in early pregnancy. With normal prenatal care, pregnant women visit clinics between the 7th and 12th gestational weeks, but the embryo has passed through his/her most vulnerable period before the 10th week, and thus prenatal care is too late to reduce the risk of congenital abnormalities. The new primary health care infrastructure for preconception care is performed by qualified and trained nurses and midwifes. Couples at risk are selected and are referred to specialists who can reject or confirm the supposed risks and treat the couples if necessary as part of their secondary health care. The most important results of the Hungarian preconception service were (i) a significant reduction in the rate of preterm births (5.0% vs. 9.2%) which has been linked mainly to preconception screening of sexually transmitted infections of female participants followed by appropriate treatment, (ii) a very significant reduction of congenital abnormalities (2.9% vs. 4.0%), particularly neural-tube defects and cardiovascular malformations, due to periconception multivitamin supplementation, (iii) reduction of smoking among female participants, (iv) involvement of male partners in the family planning health system, (v) much improved identification of couples at high risk and greater access to the secondary care of specialists. In conclusion, the Hungarian experience demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness of preconception care in the prevention of adverse birth outcomes including congenital abnormalities and preterm births.

Apparent prevention of neural tube defects by periconceptional vitamin supplementation. 1981.

An earlier preliminary paper is expanded. Women who had given birth to one or more infants with a neural tube defect were recruited into a trial of periconceptional vitamin supplementation. Two hundred mothers attending five centres were fully supplemented (FS), 50 were partially supplemented (PS), and 300 were unsupplemented (US). Neural tube defect recurrences in the study pregnancies were 1(0.5%), in FS, none in PS, and 13 (4%) in US mothers. The difference in outcome between FS and US mothers is significant. The most likely explanation is that supplementation has prevented some neural tube defects, but further studies are needed.

Maternal preconception diet and the sex ratio.

Temporal variations in the sex ratio, or the ratio of boys to girls at birth, have been widely studied and variously attributed to social changes, conditions of war, and environmental changes. Recently, Mathews et al. ["You are what your mother eats: Evidence for maternal preconception diet influencing fetal sex in humans," Proc. R. Soc. bond. B 275:1661-1668 (2008)] studied the direct evidence of individual pregnancies and established an association between the sex at birth and the mother's preconception diet. We examined the hypothesis using new evidence from the wartime famine in Holland in 1944-1945 and failed to show an association between maternal diet in pregnancy and the sex ratio. This makes a causal link highly improbable.

The history of preconception care: evolving guidelines and standards.

This article explores the history of the preconception movement in the United States and the current status of professional practice guidelines and standards. Professionals with varying backgrounds (nurses, nurse practitioners, family practice physicians, pediatricians, nurse midwives, obstetricians/gynecologists) are in a position to provide preconception health services; standards and guidelines for numerous professional organizations, therefore, are explored. The professional nursing organization with the most highly developed preconception health standards is the American Academy of Nurse Midwives (ACNM); for physicians, it is the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). These guidelines and standards are discussed in detail.

Full circle: the evolution of preconception health promotion in America.

Preconception health promotion encourages and enables a woman to actively plan pregnancy, enter pregnancy in good health with as few risk factors as possible, and be informed about her general and reproductive health before conception. Nurses have provided this holistic health care since the early 1900s. In succeeding decades, various components of and methods for promoting preconception health have been discovered and emphasized. Embracing preconception health promotion as wellness for life brings us full circle.

[The premises of a policy of early childhood during the second empire: The association for the care of lying-in women]. / Les prémisses d'une politique de la petite enfance sous le Second Empire: l'Association des femmes en couches de Mulhouse.

As early as the 1830's, the social elite of Mulhouse was aware of the higher infant mortality in the working class. A family policy was adopted only during the Second Empire: the consciousness of the failure of the first philanthropic measures explains why the manufacturers decided to take direct responsibility for the working class family. The demographic preoccupations are directly linked to philanthropy. This paper analises the principles and evaluates the results of the Association for the care of lying-in women.