 A new Beginning  Fertilization- when the sperm from a man and the ovum from a woman join together, the genes of the mother and the father combine  Implantation- the attachment of the developing cells to the uterus  Pregnancy- the time when the new cell formed during fertilization grows and develops into a baby in the women’s uterus.  Embryo- the developing human for the 1 st 8 weeks  Fetus- the developing human from week 8 until birth.

 Changes in the Mother’s Body  Once pregnant, woman’s uterus produces certain hormone  Pregnancy test  Some hormones make the women nausea (morning sickness)  These hormones produce milk  Enlarged abdomen  Swelling legs  Difficulty sleeping  Become clumsy  Emotional changes

 Nourishing the fetus  Placenta- an organ that grows in the woman’s uterus during pregnancy and allows nutrients, gases, and wastes to be exchanged between the mother and the fetus.  Mother’s blood on one side, fetus’s blood on the other.  Fetus gets nutrients from mother, and anything else.

 Pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks, or 9 months  Doctors divide the 9 months into 3 month periods called Trimesters  If a baby goes until the end of the ninth month it is full term, before this it is premature

 The first 12 weeks or 3 months of the pregnancy  Begins as single cell, but continuously divides  The heart is formed and begins to beat in the 4 th week, along with the brain and the limbs.  10,000 times bigger than 1 st  Brain waves are detected  All major organs are formed by week 8  Week 9 it is a fetus

 4 th -6 th month, 13 th -27 th week  Fetus is 3 inches long  By end of trimester it will be 3 times this size  Mother feels movement  Week the sex of the fetus is determined  Fingers and toes grow nails  Calcium in bones  Hair is formed

 7 th -9 th month, 28 th -40 th week  Fetus is 10 inches long, 2 pounds  Develops more muscles and begins to move more  Fat deposited under skin  Eyes open, lungs function  Fetus can hear voices  By end of this trimester the fetus is fully developed and ready to live in the outside world

 Birth  The passage of a baby from its mother’s uterus to outside her body  Uterus contracts many times  Labor- the process that lasts from the time contractions start until the delivery of the child and placenta.  3 stages of labor  Caesarean Section- a procedure when the doctor surgically removes the baby and the placenta  After birth the umbilical cord is cut for some women pregnancy, labor and delivery involve problems that range from mild to life threatening