Time Travel The Reason pregant women die on the island

[Wolstie]

The developing foetuses, conceived on the Island (we already know from the Jin and Sun example that the sperm count is much higher and the sperm perhaps different somehow) EXPERIENCE TIME-SWITCHING - - - the "sickness". And thus die because they can't establish a constant (other than the confines of the womb), killing the mother in the process.

[Him]

I'm not so sure.
I think I'll stick with Juliet's theory at the moment - that on the Island, the mother's body turns on the foetus, as if it's trying to heal itself from an infection.

[Murgatroyd]

While I think Rousseau's sickness could well be what Desmond experienced, I don't see how it could affect a foetus if it kicks in when people travel to or from the island. I can see how Rousseau's team could've been affected if they came in on the wrong course (incidentally, Faraday's course and the one Ben gave Michael are not the same), but not someone who's never travelled on or off it. Mind you, Desmond was first affected on the island rather than in transit, so maybe I'm misunderstanding what's happening.

[D-Roc]

It's a good idea and I wouldn't completely rule it out, but I think Juliet has the right idea with regards to the conception thing - although that in itself still requires an underlying explanation.

I think that the point of conception (which is what causes the complications for island-women's pregnancy) can also be used as a metaphor (or vice versa) for the point of entry/exit with regards to the island's 'snow globe'.

Anyway, back to your point - I think it's more to do with island-time causing the fertilisation process to happen to rapidly.

OR, if you want, we could even argue that the unborn baby has no concept of 'perception' and therefore it's consciousness is literally 'lost in time' and ultimately dies? This is only a suggestion that's just now come to me, not saying it's a stone-waller, and it's perhaps more in-line with your time-switching suggestion.

I would argue against the unborn baby needing a 'constant', since they have no previous consciousness to get confused with - I would think that if we are to take this kind of angle, then it would be about the baby's perception of time being lost (hence it developing too quickly at the point of conception)?

Need to think some more about this and get a few coffee's in me before I tackle this somemore. An interesting thread, regardless of whether it's on the ball or not.