Medicine: Score on Malformation

That the first child conceived by a woman is more apt to be malformed, than her subsequent children is a belief common among parents. Though the ratio of malformed first-born to normal first-born is so small as to discredit this belief on its face, the explanation usually advanced is that a woman needs practice in conception and child bearing, that she must ripen before her womb bears perfect fruit.

Last week the belief was further discredited when, as a result of questioning the parents of 582 malformed children born in Philadelphia. Drs. Douglas Power...

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