When do the most important parts of the fetus form?
The first days and weeks after conception are critical for fetus body formation. The most extensive transformation of life occurs before birth. The fetal period goes through major changes. During the third month male or female sexual organs begin to develop and is visible through ultrasound. During months 4-6, the baby’s heartbeat becomes stronger. The digestive and excretory systems begin to develop. Body parts such as the fingernails, toenails, and buds of teeth begin to form and hair grows. Brain development occurs in every prenatal month, but the first three months are crucial. The central nervous system becomes responsive during middle of the women 's pregnancy, and begins to regulate body functions such as breathing and sucking.
Why do substances and circumstance sometimes harm the fetus and sometimes have no impact?
Many factors determine if a substance and circus,stance harm a fetus. these factors include a critical time, frequency of the exposure to the substance and genetics. But some substances for example teratogens, do not cause any
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The first days and weeks after conception are critical for the baby. The health during the entire fetal period affects the brain, and behavioral teratogens affect the fetus at any time. Some teratogens that cause preterm birth or low birthweight are harmful in the second half of pregnancy. A study found that even though smoking cigarettes during prenatal development can harm the fetus, mothers who quit smokers early in pregnancy had no higher risks of birth complications than did women who never smoked. Another study found that binge drinking in the last trimester of pregnancy was more harmful to the brain than during any other period during pregnancy. It is recommended that women avoid drugs, have a diet of extra folic acid and iron, update their immunizations and gain or lose weight before
Pam Jenkins is a 36 year-old woman that is 30 weeks into her third pregnancy. Since her pregnancy began, Pam has gained 20 pounds. Although Pam has reduced the amount that she smokes, she continues to smoke 5 cigarettes per day, which may cause some issues with her worry of another preterm birth. Another factor that could also cause complications is her delayed prenatal vitamin use. After logging her dietary intake within a 24 hour period into SuperTracker, I will be making recommendations on how she can alter her diet and lifestyle to ensure that Pam receives the nutrients she needs for herself and for her baby.
By day 22, the child’s heart begins to pump with their own blood. By week 5 the child’s eyes, legs, and hands begin to develop. By weeks 9 and 10 the baby is able to turn its head and frown. This article also shares with us that by the 20th week gestation, the baby can recognize its mother’s voice. And lastly it gives us the last steps before the baby is born; 7 to 9 months gestation is when the baby is using four of the five senses. He knows the difference between waking and sleeping and can relate to the moods of the
Tobacco use during pregnancy is another environmental influence. The nicotine, carbon monoxide, and many other harmful chemicals mixed together in cigarettes are very harmful to the mother and especially the unborn child. This can cut off the baby’s oxygen supply, increase the risk of
There are many factors that are integrated into the successful development of a child from Prenatal growth into toddlerhood. Teratogens (outside factors) have a great impact on the babies’ inutero development. Some outside factors like second-hand smoke, smog, or fumes from cleaning chemicals can cause negative effects on the child inside the womb. A few major affects from teratogens could result in low birth weight, head circumference, slow physical growth as well as an effect on mental, behavioral and motor skills (Berk, 2003). The environment around the mother provides many of these outside factors affecting the baby’s growth. But the main link to teratogens during the gestation period is most likely the mother. Daniel S. Messinger and the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 2.8% of pregnant women admitted to using illicit drugs during their pregnancy (1996). Through illicit drug use, tobacco use and alcohol use, the mother disrupts her baby’s growth with possibly permanent damage.
1. What is the difference between a. and a. Describe the normal events of fetal development. How does malnutrition impair fetal development? Fetal development begins with the fertilization of an ovum; the female reproductive cell, capable of developing into a new organism upon fertilization, by a sperm; the male reproductive cell capable of fertilizing an ovum. Three stages follow fertilization: the zygote, the embryo, and the fetus (Whitney & Rolfes, 2016, p. 475).
Pregnant women have to be careful while pregnant. They have to watch out for various speed bumps. There are tons of toxins that can hurt the baby in the womb. The mother is responsible for most of these, after all she is the one who is carrying the baby. Many of these factors can result in death. It is really sad that it has to end that way some of the time. The worst toxins for a baby to encounter while in the mother’s uterus are different types of drugs and alcohol. Those two things can could serious problems for the infant once it gets into their system. They enter into the baby’s bloodstream from the mother, and cause problems from there on out.
In conclusion, the harmful effects of medications, alcohol and illicit drugs can be very dangerous to the health and development of a fetus during pregnancy. It is important to educate new mothers on the adverse effects that are associated with the use of these substances. With the right counselling and information provided, we can continue to keep newborns safe in the womb and be able to give them a chance at a healthy and painless future.
There are many factors that affect development. Some of those are factor, which have a direct bearing on prenatal life, later on manifest postnatal. The human body is a highly organized system with trillion of cells communicating with each other to ensure proper functioning. However those functions, can be enhance or impaired by endogenous or exogenous agent, which act in concert to produce effects during prenatal life. These effects might have consequences on emotional and cognitive development of a child postnatal. Deena Palenchar (2005) stated that there are environmental agents, which can adversely affect the prenatal development. These agents are known as teratogen. When exposed to these environmental agents, genetic materials interact with them producing effects that can have direct bearing o the rearing of the child. On the other hand, there is stress. Stress is a normal occurrence in everyone’s life, and it management depends on each individual (Sleigh, 2005). Just like teratogen, stress can affect the fetus development with mild or serious consequences during childhood and adulthood. Both teratogen in this case smoking and stress can adversely affect the fetus by producing Nicotinic Acetylcholine receptors and cortisol respectively, which have a great impact on the prenatal and postnatal development.
Drug abuse can be harmful due to the fact that the placenta connect the mother to the child. Therefore, everything the mother take in her body will be shared with the growing child. If the mother uses a drug the child will be affected by it. At this stage, the baby (fetus) is very delicate to drugs and cannot remove drugs successfully as the mother is able to. Consequently, all the chemical can pile up to very extreme levels in the child’s system and can also cause damages that will last a lifetime. The effect of perinatal drugs use are influenced by the stage of development of the ...
This process is called conception, the female is now officially two weeks pregnant and the fertilized egg is called a zygote. Let’s move on to pregnancy. Pregnancy is a state in which a woman carries a fertilized egg inside her body, it usually lasts up to 40 weeks, and it is divided into three trimesters, each lasting three months. The first month. The embryo is about a third of an inch long. The head, trunk, and the beginnings of the arms and legs have started to develop. By this month, the embryo starts to receive nutrients and releases waste through the umbilical cord and placenta. The heart also starts to beat. The second month. The heart is now pumping and the nervous system, including the brain and the spinal cord begins to develop. The fetus is 1 in 2.5cm now and has developed cartilage skeleton. The arms, legs, facial features and other major organs begin to appear. The third month. The fetus has grown up to 4 in 10cm and weighs a little more than an ounce. The major blood vessels are almost completed and the face starts to show up more. The kidneys and the 4 chambers of the heart are now complete. The fourth month. The fetus is now 4 oz of 112g and can kick and swallow. The
Focusing on the development of a fetus, there is a lot to acknowledge. The reproduction system is detailed and pregnancy can be compromised easily. As a female who may eventually want to reproduce, the topic of pregnancy is generally interesting. There is a vast amount of information based on pregnancy and fetal development, however I would like to focus on birth defects. Birth defects can arise from several factors such as genetics, teratogens, and prenatal infections.
This is the embryonic period, which occurs three weeks after conception and lasts until the eighth week. During the fourth week, the shape of the head begins to form, along with the formation of the eyes, mouth, nose, and mouth. Through the fifth and eighth week the lower body develops, as the legs and arms appear. After the embryonic stage, the fetal stage begins, which is during the ninth week through birth, where the fetus has a physical appearance distinctive to human features compared to when it was an embryo. At birth, one of the earliest signs of motor development is its first reflexes as a newborn coming out the mother’s womb. Newborns reflexes are not learned, rather they are born with these reflexes and act instinctively to protect itself in its first few months of life. At this point both the physical and motor development is starting to develop naturally at the same
Every woman when pregnant has a 3-5% chance of having a baby born with a birth defect, and these chances increase when the developing fetus/ embryos are exposed to teratogens, whether it’s intentional or unintentional (Bethesda (MD), 2006). Teratogens can cause severe birth defects, malformations, or terminate the pregnancy altogether (Jancárková, & Gregor, 2000). The placenta is known as an effective barrier from any detrimental pathogen that can potentially hurt the fetus. The timing of exposure of any teratogen is critical to the impact of prenatal development (Bethesda (MD), 2006). The most vulnerable time of the fetus for severe damage is during early pregnancy when all the major organ and central nervous system (CNS) are developing. Miscarriages have an important role in keeping a pregnancy from evolving when there is something serious going on with the developing fetus/embryo. Miscarriages are more common than we think and are the most familiar type of pregnancy loss (Bethesda (MD), 2006).
The first period, the germinal period, is classified as the first two weeks after conception, that is identified by how fast cells divide and differentiate. During this phase a zygote duplicates. After that differentiation begins, this is where early cells take on their own characteristics and move to their predetermined locations. Once that is complete a cell mass will then become either a placenta or a nucleus, together they will become the embryo. The second period is called the embryonic period. This. Is this stage of development that occurs during the third to the eighth week after conception. During this phase, the basic structural forms of the baby's body appear. At the beginning of this period a line (the primitive streak) appears turning into the neural tube, and eventually turning into the central nervous system. in the fourth week eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and minuscule blood vessels (becoming the heart) begin to appear. Between the fifth week and the end of the embryonic period arms, legs, hands, feet, fingers, and toes appear. The final stage, the
This essay covers information over the course of prenatal development. I will also discuss teratology and hazards to the prenatal development, those such as, caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and opioids. Additionally, I will discuss how maternal factors such as maternal diet and nutrition, maternal age, emotional states and stress, and paternal factors, may influence prenatal development.