Pregnancy and Birth

1. Pregnancy and Birth

2. Pregnancy and Birth • A new Beginning • Fertilization- when the sperm from a man and the ovum from a woman join together, the genes of the mother and the father combine • Implantation- the attachment of the developing cells to the uterus • Pregnancy- the time when the new cell formed during fertilization grows and develops into a baby in the women’s uterus. • Embryo- the developing human for the 1st 8 weeks • Fetus- the developing human from week 8 until birth.

3. Pregnancy and Birth • Changes in the Mother’s Body • Once pregnant, woman’s uterus produces certain hormone • Pregnancy test • Some hormones make the women nausea (morning sickness) • These hormones produce milk • Enlarged abdomen • Swelling legs • Difficulty sleeping • Become clumsy • Emotional changes

4. Pregnancy and Birth • Nourishing the fetus • Placenta- an organ that grows in the woman’s uterus during pregnancy and allows nutrients, gases, and wastes to be exchanged between the mother and the fetus. • Mother’s blood on one side, fetus’s blood on the other. • Fetus gets nutrients from mother, and anything else.

5. Pregnancy and Birth • Pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks, or 9 months • Doctors divide the 9 months into 3 month periods called Trimesters • If a baby goes until the end of the ninth month it is full term, before this it is premature

6. The First Trimester • The first 12 weeks or 3 months of the pregnancy • Begins as single cell, but continuously divides • The heart is formed and begins to beat in the 4th week, along with the brain and the limbs. • 10,000 times bigger than 1st • Brain waves are detected • All major organs are formed by week 8 • Week 9 it is a fetus

7. The second trimester • 4th-6th month, 13th -27th week • Fetus is 3 inches long • By end of trimester it will be 3 times this size • Mother feels movement • Week 14-18 the sex of the fetus is determined • Fingers and toes grow nails • Calcium in bones • Hair is formed

8. The third trimester • 7th-9th month, 28th-40th week • Fetus is 10 inches long, 2 pounds • Develops more muscles and begins to move more • Fat deposited under skin • Eyes open, lungs function • Fetus can hear voices • By end of this trimester the fetus is fully developed and ready to live in the outside world

9. Pregnancy and Birth

10. Pregnancy and Birth • Birth • The passage of a baby from its mother’s uterus to outside her body • Uterus contracts many times • Labor- the process that lasts from the time contractions start until the delivery of the child and placenta. • 3 stages of labor • Caesarean Section- a procedure when the doctor surgically removes the baby and the placenta • After birth the umbilical cord is cut for some women pregnancy, labor and delivery involve problems that range from mild to life threatening