For many centuries and in many cultures, vascular birthmarks and other physical anomalies were thought to result from the mother's emotions during pregnancy, a theory known as "maternal impressions." According to this belief, any fears, desires, or strong emotions a woman experienced during pregnancy could have a profound effect on her child's appearance.
Some of history's most renowned physicians were proponents of this theory. For example, the Greek physician Galen believed that a pregnant woman need only look at an image of someone and her child might resemble that individual. This could be used to advantage by gazing at statues one admired, a practice that was sometimes encouraged to produce attractive children, but it could also have the opposite effect. According to Ambroise Paré, a surgical giant of the Renaissance, pregnant women who were exposed to or even imagined alarming sights risked giving birth to malformed infants.
It was widely believed that the expectant mother's mental state not only caused vascular birthmarks, but also influenced their shape and location. For example, should a pregnant woman crave or eat excessive amounts of strawberries, her child might have a vascular birthmark resembling a strawberry. Should she be startled by something and touch her face in fright, a vascular birthmark would appear in the same place on her infant's face.
The notion that the expectant mother's emotions affected her child's appearance flourished throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and well into 18th century, when enlightened physicians began to question its veracity.
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