The birth of a child is always a joyful event. But before it happens, it takes 9 months of waiting, not always associated with pleasant moments. And while the expectant mother is struggling with toxicosis, the child is also busy.
Stages of intrauterine development
On average, intrauterine development lasts 40 weeks or 280 days. And normally, the gestation period is in the range of 38-42 weeks. The child changes noticeably each of the 9 months, but there are three main periods: initial, embryonic and fetal.
Initial period
The shortest stage of these, lasts one week. But, nevertheless, the unborn child is actively developing. This period is complicated by the absence of external manifestations of pregnancy. Before a woman's period is delayed, the expectant mother can lead an unfavorable lifestyle for her position - take alcohol, drugs prohibited for potential mothers, smoke, etc. Such mistakes are mainly made by those women who are not planning a pregnancy. If the harmful effects at this stage are too intense, then pregnancy simply will not occur.
With a successful conception, multiple division of the resulting zygote cell occurs within 7 days. By the third day, it already turns into a morula cage. After another 24 hours, a cavity appears in the morula, transforming it into a blastocyst. All these transformations take place in the fallopian tubes. On the 5th day, the embryo transformed into a Lastocyst enters the uterine cavity and the process of implantation into the uterine mucosa begins. Successfully completed implantation marks the end of the initial phase.
The embryonic period
This is a very important period for the development of the child. The formation of all organs and systems occurs within seven weeks, that is, from the 2nd to the 8th week of the term.
At a period of 3 weeks, the unborn child already has a prototype of the kidney, and the construction of the heart and circulatory system begins.
By four weeks, almost all vital organs have their prototypes. The future brain is in the form of nervous English, endocrine glands, lungs, liver, stomach and pancreas. The so-called primary kidney appears. Hands and feet begin their inception.
At the 5th week, the respiratory organs continue to develop, the genitourinary system is actively being built.
In the period from the 6th to the 8th week, the child's face forms, eyes and small ears become noticeable. Fingers appear. The head is larger than the body, occupying about half of the entire length of the body, which is 3 cm.
Fetal period
From the ninth week until the moment of birth, further maturation of the child's body systems occurs. After 3 months of pregnancy, the child who has reached about nine centimeters in height begins to move. True, from the outside, for the mother, these movements are still imperceptible. And only after reaching 16-20 weeks of term, the mother can feel the first shocks.
At 28 weeks, the formation of organs and their systems is coming to an end, their functional maturation continues. So, until about 40 weeks, the child grows and gains weight, preparing for the process of birth and almost independent life.
