(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Mothers' health in the days and weeks prior to conception may determine the offspring’s health much later in life, according to a group of new studies. These studies demonstrate maternal nutrition, protein intake and level of fat in the diet may cause changes in the developing fetus that can have long-term health consequences.

The time between ovulation and conception may be a critical one for maternal and fetal health, according to Kelle Moley, M.D., Washington University School of Medicine. In mouse studies, she found that subtle differences in maternal metabolism had long-lasting effects. Indeed, when Dr. Moley transferred embryos from a diabetic mouse into a non-diabetic mouse shortly after egg implantation, she noted neural tube defects, heart defects, limb deformities and growth defects in the offspring of the diabetic mouse. Dr. Moley says these findings indicate a need to re-direct our ideas about maternal health to the time prior to pregnancy.

Are we encouraging pregnant women to take vitamins when it may be too late to impact the health of a growing fetus? According to Kevin Sinclair, Ph.D., University of Nottingham, maternal nutrition at the time of conception can alter fetal development. In studies with sheep and rodents, he found that offspring of mothers with vitamin B12 and folic acid deficiencies were fatter, became insulin resistant and had higher blood pressure by the time they reached middle-age, demonstrating that early molecular changes may not manifest themselves for many years.