INTROUCUTION -- Child Development from Conception to Birth
Science has revealed that there are three stages of prenatal development, though not occurring at equally timed trimesters as conventional wisdom proposed. In the following paragraphs it will be discussed that the developing child has already reached the third stage before the mother ends her first trimester with the rest of the gestation period really being devoted to growth and organ development.
The Stages of Prenatal Development
The period of gestation of the human infant is 38 weeks (about 265 days). These 38 weeks are divided into three stages of unequal length, identified by specific changes within the developing organism. GERMINAL STAGE The first stage of prenatal development, beginning at conception and ending at implantation of the zygote in the uterus. (The zygote is the single cell formed from separate sperm and egg cells at conception). (approximately the first 2 weeks).
EMBRYONIC STAGE The second stage of prenatal development, from
week 2 through week 8, when the embryo’s organs form. While the support structures are developing, the mass of cells that will form the embryo itself is developing differently into several types of cells that form the rudiments of skin, sense receptors, nerve cells, muscles, circulatory system, and internal organs—a process called organogenesis.
THE FETAL STAGE Once organogenesis is complete, the developing