Is it possible that pregnant women die because their bodies cannot handle a pregnancy that is progressing at such an abnormal rate? I don't know exactly how to explain myself...but if the fetus is developing at an abnormally fast (or slow) rate, it's possible that the woman's body cannot take the undue physical strain.

I don't know. I don't see how that could kill the woman. It might damage the uterus, but that's not something that would be life-threatening if there are medical facilities available (like the Others had).

Plus, Juliet would certainly have noticed that.

I also don't think radiation or electromagnetism would have anything to do with it. It would just cause deformities or miscarriage, and again, Juliet would have identified it.

We have to remember that Juliet, an expert on reproductive biology, was stumped by this, so it has to be something subtle and unique.

The problem with Island pregnancies must have something to do with that...but it still doesn't really answer why pregnancies progress normally on the Island when they were conceived elsewhere (Sun would be safe if the baby had been her lover's rather than Jin's, for example, and the window between the two possibilities wasn't all that big; as well as the obvious example of Claire).

This makes the most sense to me.

Except for the fact that Juliet was likely not aware that "aging" is seriously affected on the island.

I agree. Time is going fast on the island. When Juliet was shown the ultrasound of a woman's womb and guessed it was that of a 70-year-old woman or whatever the age was, but really the woman was in her 20s ... Something must go horribly wrong there. But what?? The woman's body is aging too quickly? The fetus is developing too rapidly? Both?

My brain hurts!!!!

I started to totally agree with this and then remember Richard Alpert and how hasn't aged. Maybe if you're a native, you don't age but any "imports" to the Island have rapid aging. Evidently, even though Ben's been off the Island and is super smart, he doesn't seem to be aware that the time differential one way or the other either happens or is important because, presumably, he would have told Juliet so that she could do something about it.
Otherwise, like everyone else, my brain hurts!

But if fetal development was slower/ quicker relative to the normal time the woman was experiencing, Juliet would know.

Ie, if 2 months had passes for the woman on the island, and the fetus was in a different time and was at say, 6 months gestation Juliet would see this.

ETA: but the more I think about it, the more a pregnancy connection somehow seems to be hinted at. I forgot about the "70 year old woman" thing. Maybe pregnancy makes women travel to the future like Desmond? ...But then they would know if this was happening to them ...uhh, most likely.

Then we have Danielle, who was pregnant upon arrival at the island and was the only one of her crew not to go crazy.

I cannot make sense of all this!

But if fetal development was slower/ quicker relative to the normal time the woman was experiencing, Juliet would know.

Ie, if 2 months had passes for the woman on the island, and the fetus was in a different time and was at say, 6 months gestation Juliet would see this.

ETA: but the more I think about it, the more a pregnancy connection somehow seems to be hinted at. I forgot about the "70 year old woman" thing. Maybe pregnancy makes women travel to the future like Desmond? ...But then they would know if this was happening to them ...uhh, most likely.

Then we have Danielle, who was pregnant upon arrival at the island and was the only one of her crew not to go crazy.

I cannot make sense of all this!

Juliet may have seen this but hasn't revealed it to anyone other than Ben for fear that it will cause panic.

We really don't know what Juliet knows. She hasn't exactly been forthcoming! I do remember her saying something like "it happens at conception" so there must be some irregularity she is aware of that we don't know yet.

Working off of the brilliant insight (from here) that the sickness that took out Danielle's team was timeflashing, my hubby IM'd me the thought that perhaps she was immune, because she was pregnant.

Which made me think...what if even mild flashing is part of what makes island conceptions deadly? Because the mothers conciousness flashes, and the infants doesn't. It's not important up until around the 3rd month, but when that fetal brain activity really starts to kick in, the changes in maternal brainwaves causes serious complications with the baby.

A baby conceived pre-island wouldn't have this problem, because it's been exposed to the same effects of the (completely theoretical) time warp/barrier/thingie as the mother.

Okay, let me just ask 1 question, is the assumption that women who get pregnant off the island live based solely on Claire living after Aaron? I mean, have we ever heard of another mother living after having a baby on the island? If not, I think I may be on to something.

Juliette, as far as I can remember, always says that the women ALL die. And these would be women that she has examined? And I assume that these are women that have at some point traveled TO the island? Examined with the same Ultrasound machine that she used on Sun? Well, Ultrasound's are possible mainly due to low dose radiation. Could that low dose, combined with whatever is still around since 'the accident' be enough to give them 'the sickness'? In other words, would all of these women have lived had she not become involved.

What was so amazing about her getting her sister pregnant, the thing that initially brought Ben & the Others into her life... the fact that she got her sister, who was clearly fighting cancer through Chemo & RADIATION, pregnant. Maybe they came to her because they thought she could find a way around the issues with the radiation to achieve their goals?

Sorry, this may all be way too out there, but I still want to know why the mothers all die and this seems like the first set of hints at this.

Please, tear it apart :)

i was wondering about the mothers and unborn babies dying too... but Juliet says only the mothers who get pregnant on the island die and that's why Claire and Danielle survived... how does this new information illumine this specific issue? I can't figure it out!

... the fact that she got her sister, who was clearly fighting cancer through Chemo & RADIATION, pregnant. Maybe they came to her because they thought she could find a way around the issues with the radiation to achieve their goals?

I forgot about Juliette's sister going through chemo and radiation. This would totally make sense. Good catch!

We really don't know what Juliet knows. She hasn't exactly been forthcoming! I do remember her saying something like "it happens at conception" so there must be some irregularity she is aware of that we don't know yet.

That's true and, in all her hyphotheses on why this could be happening, a time differential probably wouldn't be on her radar. Her face when Dan was explaining that time was different as just as confused as Jack's. It would never would have occurred to her to think about that.

The development of a baby in the womb can't come and go in time (if there is some biological constant in all of this) which could be part of why the trouble with island women. I know there is conjecture about where time bends, fast forwards, etc. but this, too ties together...

Nice job, writers. This was such a fine episode.

Have you ever read "The Time Traveler's Wife"? If you're planning on reading it, don't read this:

It's about a man who unwillingly travels through time at random moments {like Desmond, obviously}. They test this ability on mice in a lab, and the female mice that get pregnant die because they can't have the babies. The man's wife gets pregnant, and has like, 8 miscarriages because the babies can't stay in her womb. It definitly reminds me of the situation on the island.