This study examined the effects of undernutrition in pregnancy on fetal and placental growth
among infants born in 1944–1946 in The Netherlands, including infants born during the war-
induced Dutch famine of 1944–1945. There was an increase in placental weight, but not in
birthweight, in infants whose mothers' nutrition was compromised around conception or in
the first trimester of pregnancy. Therefore, the placental index was also increased.
Compared to pre-famine controls, the relative increase after first trimester exposure to …