Prenatal Development
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
• From conception to the actual birth of the baby is a period of approximately 9 months, during which a
single cell becomes a complete infant.
• It is also during this time that many things can have a positive or negative influence on the developing
infant.
• When an egg (also called an ovum) and a sperm unite in the process of fertilization, the resulting
single cell will have a total of 46 chromosomes and is called a zygote.
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
• Normally, the zygote will begin to divide, first into two cells, then four, then eight, and so on, with
each new cell also having 46 chromosomes, because the DNA molecules produce duplicates, or
copies, of themselves before each division
• (This division process is called mitosis.) Eventually, the mass of cells becomes a baby. Sometimes
this division process doesn’t work exactly this way, and twins or multiples are the result.
STAGES OF PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
• Germinal
• Embryonic
• Fetal
THE GERMINAL PERIOD
• Once fertilization has taken place, the zygote begins dividing and moving down to the uterus, the
muscular organ that will contain and protect the developing organism.
• This process takes about a week
• followed by about a week during which the mass of cells, now forming a hollow ball, firmly attaches
itself to the wall of the uterus.
• This 2-week period is called the germinal period of pregnancy.
THE GERMINAL PERIOD
• The placenta also begins to form during this period.
• The placenta is a specialized organ that provides nourishment and filters away the developing baby’s
waste products.
• The umbilical cord also begins to develop at this time, connecting the organism to the placenta.
How does a mass of cells become a baby, with eyes, nose, hands, feet, and so on? How do all those
different things come from the same original single cell?
THE GERMINAL PERIOD
• During the germinal period, the cells begin to differentiate, or develop into specialized cells, in
preparation for becoming all the various kinds of cells that make up the human body—skin cells,
heart cells, and so on.
• Perhaps the most important of these cells are the stem cells, which stay in a somewhat immature state
until needed to produce more cells.
• Researchers are looking into ways to use stem cells found in the umbilical cord to grow new organs
and tissues for transplant or to repair neurological damage
THE EMBRYONIC PERIOD
• Once firmly attached to the uterus, the developing organism is called an embryo.
• The embryonic period will last from 2 weeks after conception to 8 weeks, and during this time the
cells will continue to specialize and become the various organs and structures of a human infant.
• By the end of this period, the embryo is about 1-inch long and has primitive eyes, nose, lips, teeth,
and little arms and legs, as well as a beating heart.
• Although no organ is fully developed or completely functional at this time, nearly all are “there.”
THE EMBRYONIC PERIOD
Critical Periods:
• As soon as the embryo begins to receive nourishment from the mother through the placenta, it
becomes vulnerable to hazards such as diseases of the mother, drugs, and other toxins that can pass
from the mother through the placenta to the developing infant.
• Because of this direct connection between mother and embryo and the fact that all major organs are in
the process of forming, we can clearly see the effects of critical periods, times during which some
environmental influences can have an impact—often devastating—on the development of the infant.
• The structural development of the arms and legs, for example, is only affected during the time that
these limbs are developing (3 to 8 weeks), whereas the heart’s structure is most affected very early in
this period (2 to 6 weeks). Other physical and structural problems can occur with the central nervous
system (2 to 5 weeks), eyes (3 to 8 weeks), and the teeth and roof of the mouth (about 7 to 12 weeks).
Prenatal Hazards: Teratogens:
• Any substance such as a drug, chemical, virus, or other factor that can cause a birth defect is called a
teratogen.
• One of the more common teratogens is alcohol. Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy,
particularly during the critical embryonic period, can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), a series of
physical and mental defects including stunted growth, facial deformities, and brain damage (Ethen et
al., 2008; Guerri, 2002). Exposure to alcohol in early pregnancy is the leading known cause of
intellectual disability (previously called mental retardation) in the Western hemisphere (Abel &
Sokol, 1987; Caley et al., 2005). FAS is part of a larger category of permanent birth defects due to
maternal alcohol use during pregnancy called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). So how much
alcohol is safe to drink while pregnant? The answer is clearly “none!”
THE FETAL PERIOD: GROW, BABY, GROW
• The fetal period is a period of tremendous growth lasting from about 8 weeks after conception until
birth.
• The length of the developing organism (now referred to as a fetus) increases by about 20 times and its
weight increases from about 1 ounce at 2 months to an average of a little over 7 pounds at birth.
• The organs, while accomplishing most of their differentiation in the embryonic period, continue to
develop and become functional.
• At this time, teratogens will more likely affect the physical functioning (physiology) of the organs
rather than their structure.
• The functioning of the central nervous system, for example, is vulnerable throughout the fetal period,
as are the eyes and the external sexual organs.
THE FETAL PERIOD: GROW, BABY, GROW
• The last few months continue the development of fat and the growth of the body, until about the end
of the 38th week. At 38 weeks, the fetus is considered full term. Most babies are born between 38
and 40 weeks.
• Babies born before 38 weeks are called preterm and may need life support to survive. This is
especially true if the baby weighs less than 5½ pounds at birth. How early can an infant be born and
still survive? The age of viability (the point at which it is possible for an infant to survive outside the
womb) is between 22 and 26 weeks, with the odds of survival increasing from 10 percent at 22 weeks
up to about 85 percent at 26 weeks (National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of
Biomedical and Behavioral Research, 2006).
THE FETAL PERIOD: GROW, BABY, GROW
• The most likely time for a miscarriage, or spontaneous abortion, is in the first 3 months, as the organs
are forming and first becoming functional (Katz, 2007; Speroff et al., 1999).
• Some 15 to 20 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, many so early that the mother may not
have even known she was pregnant (Hill, 1998; Medical Economics Staff, 1994).
• When a miscarriage occurs, it is most likely caused by a genetic defect in the way the embryo or fetus
is developing that will not allow the infant to survive. In other words, there isn’t anything that the
mother did wrong or that could have been done to prevent the miscarriage.
