This has occurred largely due to the studies that show human health in later life can be influenced by events during prenatal life, and establishment of the Foetal Origins and the Thrifty Phenotype Hypotheses. This book,?Managing the Prenatal Environment to Enhance Livestock Productivity?reviews phenotypic consequences of prenatal development, and provides details of mechanisms that underpin these effects in ruminants, pigs and poultry. The chapters have been divided into three parts:

? ? ? ?1. Quantification of prenatal effects on postnatal productivity;

? ? ? ?2. Mechanistic bases of postnatal consequences of prenatal
? ? ? ? ? ?development; and

? ? ? ?3. Regulators of foetal and neonatal nutrient supply.

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Managing the Prenatal Environment to Enhance Livestock Productivity?is a reference from which future research to improve the level of understanding and capacity to enhance productivity, health and efficiency of livestock in developing and developed countries will evolve. It is particularly timely given the development of molecular technologies that are providing new insight into regulation and consequences of growth and development of the embryo, foetus and neonate.