Stages of Prenatal

Development

Stages of Prenatal
Development

Conception
Germinal
Embryonic
Fetal

Conception
Conception occurs when a sperm cell
penetrates and fertilizes an egg cell
Successful conception depends on
ovaries releasing one healthy egg cell
egg cell migrates most of the way down
the fallopian tube
One sperm must penetrate the ovum to
form a zygote

Infertility
About 15 percent of couples are
unable to conceive or carry a
pregnancy to term after one year of
unprotected intercourse.
Causes of male infertility involve the
quantity or strength of sperm
produced.

Infertility (2)
Causes of female
infertility involve
structural
abnormalities in the
Fallopian tubes or
uterus or a failure to
ovulate and release
mature eggs.
New technologies are
now available to help
overcome infertility

The Germinal Stage

(first two weeks)
1. The blastocyst is differentiated into three
layers: the ectoderm, the endoderm, and the
mesoderm.
2. The blastocyst moves down the fallopian
tube into the uterus for implantation.
3. The embryonic stage begins with
implantation, and the fully implanted
blastocyst is referred to as the embryo.

Blastocyst at day six

Another blastocyst, day six

Embryonic Stage (3rd

through 8th weeks)
1. Growth in the embryonic and fetal
stages follows a cephalocaudal (head-totail) pattern and a proximodistal (near-tofar) pattern.
2. The head, blood vessels, heart, and
most vital organs begin to develop before
the arms, legs, hands, and feet.

Early Embryonic Stage

Embryonic stage (slide 2)

3.
The placenta forms as an area
of the uterine wall through which
oxygen and nutrients reach the fetus.
4.
The umbilical cord connects
the embryo to the placenta and
provides nutrients and carries away
waste products.
5.
The amniotic sac surrounds
the embryo and protects it.

Later embryonic stage

Fetal Stage (9th to birth)

1. The fetal stage is marked by the
development of the first bone cells.
The embryo is now called the fetus.
2. By the third month, the fetus is able
to move its head, legs, and feet. By
the fourth month, the mother may feel
quickening, or fetal movement.
3. The beginning of the seventh
month is considered the age of viability.
4. At the end of nine months, the fetus
weighs on average 7.5 pounds and is
almost 20 inches long.

Fetus at 12 weeks

Fetus at 18 weeks

The experience of
pregnancy
1. Physical complaints such as
nausea are common.
2. Normal weight gain is about thirty
pounds and is dispersed in organs,
baby, and bodily fluid.
3. Changes in the woman's body
bring mixed feelings.

Prenatal influences on the

child
A. Key concepts
1. Canalization is seen in prenatal
development.
2. Drugs
and
other
harmful
environmental influences can also
canalize development, usually in
negative ways.
3. Risk factors can interfere with
canalized processes that lead to the
development of specific organs.

Maternal diet and nutrition

1. Poor nutrition leads to specific
physical deformities and increased risk
for prematurity and infant mortality;
later nutritional deprivation leads to a
reduced number of brain cells.
2. Pregnant women should eat
between two hundred and one thousand
calories more per day, adding mainly
carbohydrates and protein.

Prenatal health care (1 of

2)
1. Adequate early prenatal health
care is critical to infant and maternal
health.
2. There are racial differences in
adequacy of care.
3. Special programs have been
implemented in communities to help
high-risk mothers.

Prenatal health care (2)

Stress
1. Prolonged anxiety just before or during
pregnancy increases the likelihood of medical
complications.
2. Emotional stress is related to spontaneous
abortion as well as to labor and birthing problems.

The birth episode

Birth
After about thirty-eight weeks in the
womb, the baby is considered "full
term," or ready for birth. Fetal
presentation refers to the body part
closest to the mother's cervix. There
are three types of presentation:
Cephalic (normal), breech, and
transverse.

Stages of labor
1.
During the last weeks of
pregnancy, it is common for the
mother to experience false labor,
or Braxton-Hicks contractions.
2.
The first stage of labor
usually begins with relatively mild
contractions, leading to stronger
contractions and the dilation of the
cervix to accommodate the baby's
head (10 centimeters).

Stages of labor
3. Toward the end of the first stage,
which may take from eight to twentyfour hours, a period of transition
begins, and the baby's head begins to
move through the birth canal.
4. The second stage of labor is from
complete dilation of the cervix to birth, lasting
about one to one and one-half hours.
5. During the third stage of labor, which lasts
only a few minutes, the afterbirth (consisting
of the placenta and umbilical cord) is expelled

Childbirth settings and

methods
Traditionally, childbirth was attended by a
midwife and was seen as a natural process.
With the advent of modern technology,
births increasingly took place in medical
settings. This resulted in decreased
mortality rates, but birth was now seen as a
medical event controlled by physicians.

1.
Hospital births. Birthing rooms are
becoming more popular in hospitals.
2.
Non-hospital settings
a.
Freestanding birth centers are
non-hospital facilities that provide family
centered maternity care.
b.
Birth centers have lower rates of
Caesarean sections.
c.
Home births are another alternative
for pregnancies predetermined to be low
risk.
3.
Prepared childbirth. Methods of
prepared childbirth help parents rehearse
the sensations of labor.

 Programs emphasize educational,

physical, and emotional preparation
for the birth process and use of a
coach.
b. Women who participate in birthing
programs report favorable effects.
c. Leboyer claimed a gentle birth has
benefits for the child.

Lamaze birth philosophy

Integral to the work of Lamaze International is a fundamental

philosophy of birth:
Birth is normal, natural, and healthy.
The experience of birth profoundly affects women and their
families.
Women's inner wisdom guides them through birth.
Women's confidence and ability to give birth is either enhanced
or diminished by the care provider and place of birth.
Women have the right to give birth free from routine medical
intervention.
Birth can safely take place in birth centers and homes.
Childbirth education empowers women to make informed
choices in health care, to assume responsibility for their
health, and to trust their inner wisdom.

Medicinal aids to birth

Despite good psychological preparation, the
mother may experience considerable pain,
which can be made bearable through painreducing drugs such as narcotics or other
sedatives.
a. The most common anesthetics are
epidural and spinal, which allow the mother
to remain awake and alert during birth.
b. A general or local anesthetic delays the
recovery of the mother as well as the
bonding between mother and child.

Pain in childbirth
5.

Perceptions of pain during childbirth

a. It is difficult to determine how much
discomfort or distress a laboring woman is in
and how to respond appropriately.
b. There are cultural differences in the
perceptions of pain.

Problems during labor and

delivery (1 of 3)
1. Faulty power is the failure of the uterus
to contract strongly enough to make labor
progress to an actual delivery. Induced
labor can be stimulated by the hormone
oxytocin.
2. A faulty passageway condition

occurs when the placenta develops so

close to the cervix that it blocks the
baby's passage down the birth canal
during labor. This condition is called
placenta previa.

Problems with Labor and

Delivery (2 of 3)
3. A faulty passenger condition occurs when
problems exist with the baby's position or size.
Usually babies enter the birth canal head first,
but occasionally one turns in the wrong
direction during contractions. Forceps
sometimes are used to remedy the situation.
4. In a Caesarean section, the mother receives
a general anesthetic and the baby is removed
surgically. Techniques for this surgery have
improved; however, a common criticism is that
too many Caesareans are performed.

Problems with Labor and

Delivery (3 of 3)
To deal with such problems, in most
hospitals, electronic fetal monitoring is
used to record uterine contractions and
the fetal heart rate.

Low-birth weight infants

Normal is around 7.5
pounds
Low-birth weight is
5.5 pounds or less
6 or 7 percent of all
births in U.S.
At risk for
developmental,
neurological, and
health problems

Pre-term Babies
Formerly called
premature
More than three weeks
before due date
At risk for respiratory
distress syndrome
(RDS)
Extended oxygen
use=Retinopathy of
Prematurity

Negative Prenatal
Influences on the Child
Window of
opportunity
concept--critical time
of vulnerability
Teratogen is any
substance or
influence that can
interfere with or
damage a childs
growth

Teratogenic Medicinal
drugs
Thalidomide is a sedative, also an antinausea drug--but deforms children.
Diethylstilbestrol (DES) was used to
prevent miscarriages but causes damage
to reproductive systems of offspring.
Other potentially harmful prescribed
drugs are accutane, streptomycin, and
tetra-cycline.

Teratogenic non-medicinal
drugs (1 of 3)
Marijuana
Active ingredient is
tetrahydraconabaninol or THC
Is stored in fatty
tissues of body
Placenta is no barrier
Babies are born with
psych. if not physical
addiction

Heroin
An opiate not totally
unlike morphine, but
more addictive
Severe withdrawal
symptoms
Newborn babies of
heroin addicts vomit,
tremble, cry, and have
fever, disturbed sleep,
and abnormal cries

Fetal alcohol syndrome

CNS damage, heart
defects, small head,
distortion of joints,
and abnormal facial
features
Are evident in their
inability to pay
attention or
maintain attention

Tobacco
Nicotine and carbon
monoxide interfere
with fetal oxygen
supply
Smoking is associated
with low birth weight,
spontaneous abortion,
higher infant
mortality, and poor
postnatal adjustment

Maternal Diseases (1 of 2)
Rubella, or German measles. Disastrous
in first trimester.
Syphilis and gonorrhea. Blindness,
jaundice, anemia, pneumonia, skin rash,
early death. Silver nitrate in the eyes.
Genital herpes. (1) Disease of skin and
mucous membranes, or (2) blindness,
permanent brain damage, seizures, and
developmental delay.

Maternal diseases (2 of 2)
Cytomegalovirus (CMV). High risk for
infants; jaundice, microcephaly,
deafness, and eye problems.
Toxoplasmosis. Parasite from uncooked
meat and cat feces. Low birth weight,
enlarged liver and spleen, microcephaly,
anemia, and calcifications in the brain.
Pediatric AIDS.

Home Factors
Teenage Pregnancy
Babies having
babies--own growth is
not complete
Pelvic cradle not ready
Threat to education
Responsibility not yet
learned
Maternal malnutrition

Domestic Violence
Seven to Eight
percent of
pregnant women
are beaten by
partners; most
more than once
High rate of
miscarriage