Biochemical development of the fetus and neonate and maternal diet

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Early nutrition plays an important role in fetal and neonatal growth and development, but surprisingly little research has investigated those nutrients and growth factors that play critical roles in these early biological processes. Historical data points to glucose as the principal metabolic fuel for the developing fetus and fetal glycogen reserves as playing a critical role in preventing neonatal morbidity and mortality including neonatal hypoglycemia. However, we now understand that early perinatal exposure to a complex array of nutrients and growth factors found in amniotic fluid (AF) and in milk, including amino acids, fatty acids, growth hormones, and cytokines, can play an important role in perinatal growth and organ system development and that this complex array of nutrients and growth factors found in both amniotic fluid and milk can contribute to early perinatal programming that can have long lasting biological consequences for development.