Maternal Hypothyroidism and Fetal Development

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Abstract
Thyroid deficiency during the latter two thirds of gestation and the first months after delivery can result in mental retardation and sometimes neurologic deficits. Whether thyroid hormone is needed during the first trimester is less certain. If it is, it must be supplied by the mother, because none is secreted by the fetus until the middle trimester.During the middle and last trimesters, thyroid hormone is supplied by both the mother and the fetus but mostly by the mother. This is most evident in the fate of infants with sporadic congenital hypothyroidism. Most of these infants are normal at birth, . . .