PRE-NATAL DEVELOPMENT

A. Some Right Concepts About Development Are As follows:

Life does net begin at birth but at the time of conception,approximately nine months before birth. The woman produces a seed, the ovum, which, when united with male seed, gives rise to a new individual. (Before the nineteenth century, the woman was regarded as the receptive soil in which the seed from the male was planted. The role of the mother was suppose to be merely to supply nourishment for the developing baby, and the source of this nourishment was believe to be the menstrual blood.)

B. Information About the Living Fetus Comes From Three Sources:

The mothers report of fetal movements. Sound of fetal heartbeats and movements detected by instruments used on the mothers abdominal wall. Direct observations of fetuses operatively removed because a diseased condition of the mother necessitated the artificial termination of pregnancy.

C. Technical Aids And Special Apparatus Used to Study

Fetal Heartbeat, Fetal Activity, Position of the Fetus,and Whether There Will be Twins Are:

Stethoscope Cardiograph String Galvanometer X-ray

Carriers of Heartbeat A. Chromosomes and Genes

1. Different terms used regarding the carriers of heredity are : a. Gene - transmitter of hereditary traits. b. Zygote fertilized germ cell, this consists of the male and female cells. c. Cytoplasm outer ring of the cells, this is composed of relatively undifferentiated protoplasmic material d. Nucleus the life-giving part of the cell, this is within the cytoplasm.

e. Chromosomes are found in the nucleus and each chromosome contains about 3,000 genes. There are 48 chromosomes in the fertilized germ cell of the human being. Of these, half come from the mother and the other half from the father.

B. Maturation Of Sex Cells

1. Terms used in discussing the maturation of sex cells: a. Gonads are the reproductive organs where the maternal and paternal germ cells develop. b. Testes are the male gonads and these produce male germ cells, the spermatozoa (singularspermatozoon).

c. Ovaries are the female gonads, these produce the female germ cells, the ova (singular- ovum). d. Haploid cell a cell with one-half its usual number of chromosomes. e. Gametes another name for germ cells, also called the marrying cell.

C. Ovum Versus Spermatozoon

1. There are several outstanding differences between the ovum and the spermatozoon. These are:

a.The ovum is large as compared with the other cells of the body,while the spermatozoon is among the smallest cells of the body.The cause of the difference between the sperm cell and the ovum is the yolk,or food material for the nourishment of new individual. b.The ovum is round in shape and non-motile,with no means of locomotion within itself.The spermatozoon is elongated in shape and very motile. c.Normally, only one ovum is produced in each menstrual cycle,approximately 28 days.The spermatozoon are very numerous with as many as 200,000,000 found in three cubic centimeters of seminal fluid in one ejection.

e.The ovum contains 24 matched chromosomes,while half of the spermatozoa contain 24 matched chromosomes.

How Life Begins

A. Early Stages of Growth 1.Ovulation is the process of maturing and escaping from an ovary of one ovum during the menstrual cycle. 2.Fertilization or conception,consists of the formation of a fertilized egg,or zygote. B. Significance of Fertilization 1.There are two things that happen at the time of fertilization.These are:

a.

Not only is a new individual created, but his entire heredity endowment is determined. b. The sex is determined and there is known way of changing the sex of the newly created individual after the moment of conception. 2. Because each human being, produces many more germ cells than will ever be used, and because in each of these cells are genes from both parents in varying numbers, two important points must be remembered.These are: a.It is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty what the offspring will be like, since the genes are assorted by chance.

b. The genes carry the traits of the ancestors of the individual and may produce in the offspring traits that are traceable to one or more of the ancestors, even though they may not be found in either parent. C. Difficulties of Fertilization When conditions are not always favorable to fertilization and should this condition remain month after month, the woman will be sterile and will be incapable of producing offspring.

1. Failure of fertilization of an ovum may be caused by many conditions, the most important of which are :

a.

Unfavorable conditions in the female reproductive organs, such as too acid condition of the vaginal secretions which kill the sperm, or an obstruction in the Fallopian tubes due to inflammation or some foreign substance. b. Unfavorable conditions of the ovum due to poor health, vitamin or glandular deficiency on the womans part, or old age. c. An unfavorable conditions of the sperm cells.

D. Periods in Pre-natal Development

1. These periods maybe divided into three subdivisions:

Period of the Ovum or the germinalperiod, which extends from the moment of conception to the end of the second week. b. Period of the embryo which extends from the end of the second week to the end of the second month, or six weeks in duration. c. Period of the fetus which extends from the end of the of the second month to birth. 2. There are two hormones that prepare the uterine wall to receive and nourish the ovum: a. Estrogen which was present in the ovum matured and was released when the follicle ruptured. b. Progesterone - which is also produced in the wall of the ovary. a.

3. Tubal Pregnancy is the condition when ovum remains in the Fallopian tube and attaches itself to the wall of the tube after it has been fertilized. 4. The three germ layers from which all parts of the develop are: a. Ectoderm the outer layer, produces the epidermis of the skin, hair, nails, parts of the teeth, skin glands, sensory cells, and the entire nervous system. b. Mesoderm the middle layer, from which comes the dermis or inner in lay the middle layer, from which comes the dermis or inner in layer, the muscles, circulatory and excretory organs.

 c. Endoderm innermost layer genes rise to the lining of the entire digestive tract, the Eustachian tubes, trachea, bronchi, lungs, liver, pancreas, salivary glands, thyroid gland and thymus. 5. Umbilical cord is the connecting link between the embryos abdominal wall at one end at one end and the placenta at the other. 6. Amniotic sac is the water jacket or bag, in which the embryo is protected from possible injuries to his delicate tissues until the time of birth. This sac increases in sizes as the baby grows larger period of fetus. And this sac breaks just before birth to lubricate the passageways for birth.

 7. There are certain hazards which may influence the future of the embryo. These hazards are: a. Miscarriage this is spontaneous abortion brought about by natural causes as distinguished from induced abortion brought on by instrumental either illegally or for therapeutic purposes. b. Malformation. 8. Causes of miscarriages are: a. Defective germ plasm. b. Abnormality of the female reproductive organs. c. Multiple pregnancies. d. Severe malnutrition.

e. f. g. h. i. 9.

Thyroid deficiency. Severe maternal illness Rh factor Vitamin deficiency Progesterone deficiency Different sense organs and sensations during the fetal period are: a. Cutaneous sensitivity this begins in the oralnasal region, involving the mucous membrane of the nostrils and red of the lips. b. Temperature in prematurely born infants, the temperature sense is much the same as in normal infants.

Pain this is develop during the pre-natal period. d. Taste this develops during the third fetal month and the taste buds are more widely distributed in fetal than in adult life. e. Smell as long as the nasal cavity is filled with amniotic fluid, there can be no adequate olfactory stimulation. f. Vision this begins to develop during the second or third week of embryonic development. g. Hearing this is well-develop. It could function before birth, but the infant remains deaf until the Eustachian tube of the ear is opened and the gelatinous liquid of the fetal middle ear is drained out. c.

h. Balance the semi-circular canals, in te inner ear, attain their adult size by the end of the pre-natal period. 10. Two types of fetal activities are: a. Specific reflexes: Most of the basic reflexes, such as swallowing, the plantar, flexion, and Babinski reflexes, are established between the fourth and fifth pre-natal months. By, all the others are present. b. Mass activity or generalized movements. 1. Slow, squirming, stretching, pushing and turning movements.

2. Quick kicks, jerks and thrusts of the extremities. 3. Hiccups or rhythmic series of quick convulsive movements.

Developmental Irregularities
A. Two evidences Show That Maternal Impressions Cannot Cause Abnormalities.These Are: 1. The same types of abnormalities are found in most of the lower animals, where, because of the low development of the nervous system, maternal impressions do not exists.

2. There is no direct connection between the mother and the fetus only an indirect connection through the umbilical cord and placenta, where there are no nerves, only blood vessels. Hence, the mental, emotional or nervous condition of the mother can have no direct effect whatever on the fetus. B. Studies of Developmental Irregularities 1. Information regarding developmental irregularities comes from: a. The abnormal development of the fetus itself. b. Experimentally induced structural changes in lower animals.

2. By the use of changed environmental conditions involving the use of cold water, chemicals, insufficient oxygen, or ultra-violet rays, monster or individuals departing greatly in form or structure from the usual type of the species have been experimentally produced. Examples of these are: a. Two-headed monster among tadpoles can, for example, be produced through the use of chemical or mechanical stimuli. b. By adding magnesium chloride to water, the eyes of minnows can be displayed. c. Changed environmental conditions change the rate of development, thus altering the balance of growth among the different parts of organism.

d. In an experiment on mice, Ingalls induced specific physical defects in the young by a systematic reduction of oxygen at different periods in pregnancy. e. By depriving pregnant rats of vitamin A, deformities in the eyes of the young were produced. Riboflavin deficient mothers had off spring with skeletal deformities.

f.

g. A vitamin D deficient diet of the mother also produces skeletal deformities in the offspring, but of a different nature than those resulting from riboflavin deficiency

C. Causes of Development Irregularities 1. There are three causes of developmental irregularities. These are: a. Developmental irregularities may be due to defective genes owing to heredity or to disturbance or disease of one or more of the endocrine glands, or to a defective pre-natal environment. b. Developmental irregularities due to an environmental disturbance which occurs at the same time as the formation of a particular organ. c.Unfavorable factors in the pre-natal environment do not produce developmental irregularities if they occur before a certain part of the body has started to develop, or after it is formed

2. Examples of the timetable of abnormalities are: a. Rickets, which is frequent in prematurely born children, results not from post-natal dietary deficiencies, but from the fact that they did not spend the last months in utero when mineralization of the skeleton is most active. b. Mongolian idiocy in this condition, the parts of the body which are usually deformed are those which are just budding around the eight week of pregnancy. c. Rubella, or German measles, which in childhood is a mild disease, has been found to produce such defects as cataracts, deafness, anomalies in the structure of the heart, defetive teeth, microcephaly, mental deficiency,

stillbirths, and neo-natal deaths when it occurs during the first three or four months of pregnancy. d. Rubella occurring at a critical period in the development of the end organs of the ear produces vascular changes. The Determination of Sex A. Two Outstanding Problems Have Existed in Relation to the Determination of Sex. These Are: 1.To predict the sex of the unborn child. 2. To control the sex desired.

B. Predicting Sex 1. Some superstitious beliefs concerning the prediction of sex are as follows: a. A coin tossed over the shoulder of a pregnant woman would, if it comes up head,foretells the arrival of male baby. If it comes out tails, it foretells the arrival of a girl. b. In German folklore, it is said that if barley and wheat are soaked in the urine of a pregnant woman and then planted in the ground, the sex of the fetus can be detected by the one that grows first. Should it be barley, the offspring would be a girl, while wheat would mean the arrival of a boy.

2. There have been some scientific techniques used to predict sex. These are: a. The heartbeat test maintains that if the fetal heartbeat is 125 or less per minute, the fetus is a boy; 144 or more heartbeats per minute means that the fetus is a girl. b. The use of X-rays in the ossification of bones test comparable bones ossify earlier in girls than in boys. c. Smear test has been developed to determine the amount of estrogenic and androgenic hormones present.

d. Test of the maternal saliva this test is based on the assumption that a certain chemical substance in the maternal saliva, the precise nature of which is not yet known, is related to the male sex hormone. The presence of this substance has been found to the associated with birth of a boy, while its absence has been related to the birth of a girl. C. Controlling Sex 1. There are again superstitions on how to control the sex in the human offspring. Some of these are:

a. If a man went to bed on his wedding night wearing his boots, a boy would be conceived. b. Fertilization just after menstruation is supposed to result in female offspring. c. A girl could be produced if the mother ate large amounts of sugar. d. When a pregnant woman drinks a certain portion regularly, she can produce a boy if the portion is alkaline and can have a girl if the portion is acid.

D. X and Y Chromosome Discovery of the sex chromosomes shows that the factors that determine sex are internal and that sex of the fertilized ovum is fixed at the time of fertilization. In every species in which sexual reproduction occurs, one of the sexes has a pair of chromosomes and one member that is different. In the human being, the unmatched chromosomes appear in the male, while in the females, all pairs are matched. Sex is determined by the presence or absence of a pair of unmatched chromosomes, the X and Y chromosomes, in the mature spermatozoon.

Multiple Births
A. Definition of multiple Births 1. Multiple births are the birth of two or more offspring within a few days of one another. B. Different Birth Are the Result of an Assymetrical Cell Division or of Several Simultaneous Fertilizations. C. Different Forms of Multiple Births Are: 1. Twins 2. Triplets 3. Quadruplets 4. Sextuplets

D. Twins 1. Twins - are two individuals born at the same time. 2. Different types of twins are: a.) Identical or uniovular come from a single ovum fertilized by a single sperm. They are so-called because of having exactly the same assortment of genes. b.) Non-identical, biovular or fraternal are the product of two ova fertilized simultaneously. 3. Characteristics of twins are summarized as follows: a.) Physically, identical twins are much more alike than are non-identical twins, who often show no greater resemblance to one another than do ordinary siblings. b.) Mentally, twins are found to be slightly below the average level of siblings in intelligence test scores.

c. In language ability, twins are retarded in all aspects of language ability as compared with singletons. d. In social development, they do not develop their individual personalities because they spend most of their time together. D. Triplets a. Identical all have come from the same fertilized ovum. b. Two identical and one sibling. c. Three siblings each having come from a separate fertilized ovum. E. Quintuplets 1. Characteristics of quintuplets is:

a. They were proven to be background when intelligence tests were given to them.

Factors Influencing Pre-natal Development

A. Some of the Factors That Influence Pre-natal Development 1. Food the fetus needs proteins for tissue building and repair ; as well as surplus to store on body fat as a reserve ; and carbohydrates for strength and energy. 2. Maternal Health Any diseased condition of the mother that effects her general metabolism will influence to a certain extent the development of the fetus.

3. Alcohol even if it is not used by the mother, the male germ cell may have been weakened by alcohol before fertilization occurs. 4. Tobacco Tobacco contains nicotine, a powerful narcotic poison and when inhaled, its effects are more injurious than in ordinary smoking because of the disturbance of blood pressure and heart action. 5. Emotional experience of the mother When the mother is happy during the pre-natal period, the disposition of the baby will be happy. 6. Age of parents It is said that older parents have more intelligent children than younger parents.