Development of the Inner Ear After Maternal Hypoxia

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Abstract
The present investigation forms part of a systematic series of experiments designed to study the effect of maternal stress upon the unborn progeny,8 the aim here being to appraise the effect of prenatal hypoxia upon the embryonic hearing organ. In the course of preceding investigations, stagespecific susceptibilities of different tissues to maternal hypoxia have been revealed, the nature of which is determined, among other factors, by sequences of development intrinsic in the embryo itself. Thus gross cerebral and skeletal defects followed critical hypoxic stresses on the 9th day, cleft palate those administered on the 15th day, "open eye" on the 16th and 17th days of pregnancy,19 and retinovascular abnormalities in the neonatal period have been demonstrated microscopically.7 The findings to date indicate that congenital defects stem from normal patterns of vascular development at the time when the impact of maternal stress registers upon the fetus. And in