This book is over forty years old; with findings on foetal development and early infancy that date back to the 1970s. But it's as if it's never found its place in the world. It should have been a landmark book. In many ways it is. But the facts have been buried because their implications are too hot to handle.
The massive impact of both mother and father on a baby, even in the womb, is - except in marginal circles - still unrecognised. Interestingly, the authors suggest that small levels of depression, anger and anxiety in the mother are actually beneficial to the child in-utero, because they contribute to the development of self-awareness. Larger ongoing amounts may however have debilitating effects all through life.
Marasmus, the Greek for "wasting away", is the condition that results in the death of a newborn through the absence of cuddling and hugging. In the nineteenth century, it was responsible for the deaths of nearly half of all infants and, in the early twentieth century, it was allegedly the cause of 100% of deaths in foundling homes. Today, these infants are labelled 'failure to thrive'.
The clinical name for the tendency of mothers and (to a surprisingly equal extent) fathers to kiss, rock, cuddle, hug, touch and hold newborns is called "engrossment".
"Separation protest", the reaction of a child when a parent leaves the room and only a stranger is left, is almost as high for a father leaving the room as a mother.