A new study, led by researchers at the University of Oxford, UK, in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley, U.S., published today in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology identifies, as early as the fifth month of pregnancy, patterns of fetal abdominal growth associated with maternal lipid metabolites that track newborn growth, adiposity and development into childhood. These fetal growth patterns are also associated with blood flow and nutrient transfer by the placenta, demonstrating a complex interaction between maternal and fetal nutrition early in pregnancy that influences postnatal weight and eventually adult health.