One in six pregnancies is terminated by miscarriage. No-one really knows why, but a discovery by Graham Burton of Cambridge University may be at least part of the answer. He discovered that foetuses receive a threefold increase in blood oxygen between the 8th and 15th week of pregnancy, and speculated that this could create a surge in free radicals which could overwhelm the baby.

Graham suggested that research should be carried out to see whether taking high levels of antioxidants (e.g. vitamins C and E) could help mop the free radicals up, thus protecting the foetus.