‘Something there is that doesn’t love a wall’: Histories of the placental barrier

A historical argument for regulatory failure in the case of Primodos and other hormone pregnancy tests

“…Primodos and other HPTs were initially marketed as plausibly advantageous over the toad test and, before the thalidomide tragedy (1957–1961), neither consumers nor experts were accustomed to associating prescription drugs with risk of harm to the fetus ( Clow, 2003 ). Thalidomide may have raised concerns about the permeability of the placental barrier ( Martin and Holloway, 2014 ), but because the pregnant body ordinarily produces high levels of sex hormones, the comparably small dosages in HPTs were widely regarded as harmless. Progesterone therapy was widely used in the 1950s to prevent miscarriage, and many doctors believed that HPTs, far from causing harm, would even ‘help implant the ovum properly’ ( Anon., 1960 ).…”

A Brief History of Awareness of the Link Between Alcohol and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

“…7 "As a result, obstetrical writers took an ambiguous position toward alcohol." 7 In contrast, Martin and Holloway 26 argue that although "it would take the next few decades" for physicians and researchers to fully acknowledge that presence and harm were synonymous in the maternal consumption of teratogens, the scientific and medical communities were aware that the placental barrier did not in fact protect the fetus from insult, referencing multiple obstetrics textbooks from 1938 to 1951 [26][27][28][29][30] that explicitly acknowledge this fact. Martin and Holloway suggest that the aforementioned references, along with a proliferation of prescriptions given to pregnant women during this time, suggest that "fetal harm from maternal ingestion of drugs was simply not a concern of the average physician."…”

“…Greene and Podolsky attribute the potential oversight by physicians as follows: "The rapid escalation of innovation and promotion in the pharmaceutical industry at mid-century provoked a broader crisis of overflow in medical education in which modern physicians were trapped between commercial and professional sources in an attempt to keep modern by incorporating the glut of emerging technologies, therapeutics, and related information into their practices." 26,31 Furthermore, as early as the mid-1800s, pro-life advocates emphasized the organic distinction of mother and fetus by placental barrier as evidence of intrauterine autonomy of the child, further politicizing and stigmatizing research and discourse around women's reproductive health. 26,32 In the 1950s to 1960s, researchers began observing physical malformations in children exposed to radiation from the atomic explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and from the maternal ingestion of thalidomide, which increased the scientific community's interest in the field of teratology.…”

“…26,31 Furthermore, as early as the mid-1800s, pro-life advocates emphasized the organic distinction of mother and fetus by placental barrier as evidence of intrauterine autonomy of the child, further politicizing and stigmatizing research and discourse around women's reproductive health. 26,32 In the 1950s to 1960s, researchers began observing physical malformations in children exposed to radiation from the atomic explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and from the maternal ingestion of thalidomide, which increased the scientific community's interest in the field of teratology. Thalidomide specifically is attributed to having "opened the gates for more researchers, more funding, and more institutional infrastructure in the areas of placentology, teratology and reproductive science."…”

From Mother/Fetus to Holobiont(s): A Material Feminist Ontology of the Pregnant Body

“…In the same spirit, While the placenta is often considered a "lifeline" and filtering organ, it has also been understood to be an organ that separates the Mother and Fetus. Ironically, the placenta's purported role as the anatomical barrier between two organisms came into the spotlight when the organ "failed" to protect the offspring from the harm of thalidomide, a medication doctors prescribed for morning sicknesses in the early 1960s (Martin & Holloway, 2014). By drawing attention to the placenta as the "mediator," Hird and Fannin inadvertently reproduce the duality between the Mother and Fetus and reaffirm their separate existence.…”