THE SECRET WORLD OF THE BABY

Earlier this year Modern Motherhood appeared, based on the experience of Dr. Liley in running a prenatal clinic in Auckland, N.Z., and the scientific studies of her husband, a pioneer in fetology; this presents the same material condensed and slightly refocused-also generously and aptly illustrated with (among others) some of the remarkable photographs of Lennart Nilsson that appeared in Life Modern Motherhood offered fresh information on the uterine and post-uterine life of the baby, including a detailed discussion of the implications of birth, of the handling of the newborn, of patterns of physical and mental growth; so, somewhat simplified but not diluted, does this. The after-birth sections made Modern Motherhood a manual; the pre-birth sections distinguish this from any other juvenile related to the topic. Here is the fetus moving in his sac like a baby seal, later becoming cramped and more and more uncomfortable; hearing quite well but seeing little, limited by the scant light passing through his mother's body; reacting to jostling and increasing constriction by kicking out; lulled by the rhythm of his mother's heart, of her steady walking--being, in short, a sentient being. So that when he is born the reader sympathizes with his shock. Altogether it's a revealing introduction and, as designed, hard to resist.