[Study on pregnancy & embryology in Tibetan medicine]

The author has studied the materials on menstruation, gestational course, embryonic development and hygiene during pregnancy recorded in ancient Tibetan medical literatures, and compared them with that in Han medicine, generally known as TCM. The article points out that Tibetan and Han medicine share some common views in pregnancy and embryology, but, in the aspects of observation and knowledge in menstruation and embryology, Tibetan medicine seems more unique. Tibetan medicine not only recorded foetal shape week by week for 38 weeks, but also presented them in color pictures to illustrate the "fish-tortois-pig" stages in its course of embryonic development which is absent in Han medicine. Tibetan medicine is very creative in its knowledge on pregnant physiology and embryology.