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Could a fearsome sight affect a child's appearance?

Duration: 02:10

Peter asks about ‘maternal impression’ which is the medical belief prevalent in the 18th Century, that if a women saw a frightening sight, or a person with a disability, that sight or disability would travel from her consciousness, from her brain, right down to the developing foetus and the foetus would reflect that sight and have that disability or feature when it was born.

Available since: Fri 31 May 2013

This clip is from

Disability: A New History Beauty and Deformity

4/12 Peter explores the impact that ideas about beauty and deformity had on people's lives.

First broadcast: 30 May 2013



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