Kathy, it is great to see the coverage of the fetus's long learning period
as the senses begin to develop and be used in utero.  There's so much good
research out there now, and I love helping my Mums see what their babies
already know and recognise.  Your points about semantics were probably
needed, because "attachment" may not mean the same to everyone in a
discussion, coming from different backgrounds and disciplines.
    It would be interesting to see just how far back the concept of
"exterior gestation" goes. You cited Bostock (1962), and I've cited Earnshaw
(1961), on difference sides of the world.  If I had the time, I'd do some
delving into the references of the references.  Yet perhaps it doesn't
matter who said or wrote it first, but the usefulness of the concept in the
time when it was being talked about, when its capacity to surprise and make
the reader/audience think was probably greater.  It is probably not the
detail that is the thing (e.g. baby's head size at age x or y), but the
broader idea.
    All of which of course reinforces the idea of a "babe at breast", or at
least "in arms" (Mum's or extended family's or carer's), not a babe isolated
in the crib in the baby's room.
    Cheers,
          Virginia
           in dry Brisbane, where the birds are singing
           and the jacarandas are in bloom (though past
           their best)

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