Preparing for Pregnancy
A woman’s choices during pregnancy greatly impact the health of her child, and the healthiest choices can only be made with the help of reliable scientific information. Unfortunately, scientists often depend on animal data and thus draw misleading conclusions from studies of pregnant rats, rabbits, and other animals. These animal studies ignore the fact that each animal carries her young in a unique way, with variations in lengths of gestation, phases of fetal brain development, position of the fetus, role of the placenta, and other crucial differences. As such, studying fetal development exacerbates the already significant physiological differences between the species.
The Failures of Animal Testing
The track record of animal testing is particularly poor with regard to protecting pregnant women. Impossible as it is to believe, animal research failed to establish a link between maternal alcohol consumption and fetal birth defects, and it amazingly determined that smoking was safe! It was only through epidemiological observation that scientists discovered the inherent dangers. On the other hand, many of our most important drugs cause birth defects in animals but are safe when used by humans. If we relied strictly on animal testing, we wouldn’t have access to some of our most effective medications, including aspirin.
Dangerous Odds
Clinical studies show that animal testing has only a 50% success rate at predicting which chemicals are dangerous and which are safe for use by pregnant women. Animal testing is like trusting the health of your baby to the flip of a coin. With the increasing number of validated non-animal tests, surely it’s time to switch to easier, economical, and more reliable in vitro technologies.
