Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Trends and issues
- List of Family life-cycles
- List of Figures and Tables
- Note to the Student
- Note to the Instructor
- How to use the CD-ROM
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part 1 The Study of Human Development
- Part 2 Conception and Birth
- 4 Prenatal Development
- 5 From Conception to Birth
- Part 3 Infancy
- Part 4 Toddlerhood
- Part 5 The Pre-school Years
- Part 6 Middle Childhood
- Part 7 Adolescence
- Part 8 Studying Human Development
- Glossary
- References
- Index
- STUDENT FEEDBACK FORM
5 - From Conception to Birth
from Part 2 - Conception and Birth
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Trends and issues
- List of Family life-cycles
- List of Figures and Tables
- Note to the Student
- Note to the Instructor
- How to use the CD-ROM
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part 1 The Study of Human Development
- Part 2 Conception and Birth
- 4 Prenatal Development
- 5 From Conception to Birth
- Part 3 Infancy
- Part 4 Toddlerhood
- Part 5 The Pre-school Years
- Part 6 Middle Childhood
- Part 7 Adolescence
- Part 8 Studying Human Development
- Glossary
- References
- Index
- STUDENT FEEDBACK FORM
Summary
Angels Whispering
Because I feel that, in the heavens above
The angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among their burning terms of love,
None so devoted as that of ‘mother’,
Therefore by that dear name I long have called you.
Edgar Allan Poe, To My MotherKEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
Oocyte
Blastocyst
Placenta
Infertility
Embryo
Birth
Apgar test
Engrossment
Reflexes
Introduction
From conception to birth a wondrous journey is undertaken. In the last weeks before birth the foetus is fully developed. The baby is about 48 centimetres in length and weighs about 2500 grams. Before birth, she or he will grow up to another 3 centimetres and gain up to 800 grams. This extra weight will help protect the baby upon emerging from the cocooned environment of the womb to the outside world. In the womb the baby drinks up to 3 litres of amniotic fluid per day, thereby preparing to develop the stomach, kidneys and bladder. The amniotic fluid is excreted and the baby's urine (free of toxins) supplies part of the new amniotic fluid. The baby has been practising breathing before birth, may develop hiccups at times and can suck his or her thumb. All the senses are developed and the baby can hear, taste, feel, smell and see. A few weeks before birth the baby moves into a head-down position in the pelvis. The baby is now ready to set out on the next wondrous stage of his or her journey through life.
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- Child, Adolescent and Family Development , pp. 100 - 118Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2002