Prenatal

Developm
ent
 Introduction
✗ Prenatal development or Antenatal
development is the process in which an
embryo or fetus is carried in the womb during
pregnancy, and involves rapid changes and
growth in the 38 weeks prior to the birth of a
child.
✗ This time period is divided into different
categories of development.

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 Stages of
prenatal
development
The 3 primary stages of prenatal development
are
✗ Germinal period ( week 1-2)
✗ The embryonic period ( week 3-8)
✗ The fetal period (week 9-40)
Each of these stages is important for reaching
the ultimate goal of a healthy baby.

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 Germinal
stage(week 1-
2)
✗ The germinal stage involves several different
processes that change an egg and sperm first into a
zygote, and then into an embryo. The processes
includes;
✗ Fertilization
✗ Cleavage
✗ Blastulation
✗ Implantation

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 fertilization
✗ Fertilization takes place when a sperm successfully
enters a egg and triggers the egg.

✗ Fertilization results in a single cell called a zygote. The

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✗ Successful fertilization is enabled by three
processes: chemotaxis, adhesion, and digestion.
1. Chemotaxis is a chemical process in which chemical
signals from the egg direct the movement of sperm
toward the egg.
2. Once sperm reach the egg, adhesion occurs. In this
process, a sperm “sticks” to the egg. Adhesion
causes reactions that block the entry of additional
sperm. For example, the egg releases enzymes that
digest sperm-receptor proteins on the surface of the
egg, preventing other sperm from adhering to the egg.

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 cleavage
By the second day after fertilization, the single-celled zygote
undergoes mitosis to form two daughter cells. Mitosis
continues taking place every 12 to 24 hours to produce first
four, then eight, and as many as sixteen cells by day 4.
These early mitotic divisions are called cleavage. By day 4,
the cells form a solid ball called a morula.

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 Blastulation
✗ Blastulation is the process of changing the morula into
a blastocyst. It occurs from roughly day 5 to day 7 after
fertilization. During blastulation, the morula changes from
a solid ball of undifferentiated cells into a fluid-filled ball of
differentiated cells. The major parts of the fully formed
blastocyst are the embryoblast, trophoblast, and
blastocoele.

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✗ The embryoblast consists of a mass of cells inside the
blastocyst. These cells migrate to one end of the
blastocyst. Embryoblast cells are differentiated cells that
will eventually develop into the embryo.
✗ The trophoblast is the outer cell layer of the blastocyst.
Trophoblast cells are differentiated cells that will implant in
the uterus and eventually develop into the placenta and
other extraembryonic (outside of the embryo) tissues.
✗ The blastocoele is a cavity formed by the migration of
embryoblast cells to one pole of the blastocyst. The
blastocoele fills with fluid secreted by trophoblast cells.

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 Implantation
✗ Around day 8 or 9 after fertilization, implantation
begins. Implantation is the process in which a
blastocyst becomes embedded in the endometrium of
the uterus.

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2 Embryonic
stage
 EMBRYONIC
STAGE(3-
8WEEKS)
✗ After Blastocyst implantation in the uterus, the mass of
cells are now known as embryo.
✗ Short, lasting only about seven weeks in total, but
development that occur during this stage bring about
enormous changes in the embryo.
✗ Blood vessels grow, placenta formation starts in 3rd week
✗ A structure connected to the uterus that provides
nourishment and oxygen from the woman’s body to the
developing embryo through the umbilical cord.

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 gastrulation
✗ It begins with the formation of the
primitive streak, by the migration
of epiblast cells.
✗ These movement of cells results in
formation of new layer, mesoderm.
✗ It lies between ectoderm(an outer
layer of epiblast) and endoderm
(an inner layer of hypoblast).

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 Cont..
✗ Ectoderm: skin, hair teeth, sense organs, brain, spinal
cord
✗ Endoderm: digestive system, liver, pancreas, respiratory
system
✗ Mesoderm: muscles, bones, blood, circulatory system

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 neurulation
✗ This is a process in which the embryo
develops structures that will eventually
become the nervous system.

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 organogenesis
✗ The organs start to develop within the newly formed
germ layers.
✗ Around the fourth week, the head begins to form,
quickly followed by the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.
The blood vessel that will become the heart start to
pulse. During the fifth week, buds that will form the
arms and legs appear.

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✗ By the eighth week of development, the embryo has
all of the basic organs.

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3
FETAL STAGE
 First
trimester(9 -
th

13 week)
✗ The organs formed in embryo period continue to grow and function.
✗
✗
th
Harmful agents no longer cause major malformations.
External sex organs appear
✗ Bones and muscles develop
✗ Fetus becomes quite active
✗ By the end of 1st Trimester:
1. It moves its arms
2. Kicks its legs
3. Makes fists
4. Turns somersaults

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 ✗ The fetus;
cont.
1. Swallows
2. Digests

✗ This behaving
contributes to proper
development of nervous,
digestive and other
systems.

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 2 nd

trimester(14 -
th

26 week)
th
✗ More refined activities i.e., thumb sucking
✗ By the end of this period, sensory organs are working
✗ Premature infants as young as 25 weeks, respond to bright light
and loud noises

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 3 rd

trimester(27 -
th
✗
✗
✗
40 )
th
Fetus grows at a very rapid rate
Crucial for brain development
The fetus behavior becomes more adaptive and organized
✗ Heart rate and activity becomes more coherent and organized as
in waking and sleeping stages known as infant states.
✗ By the end of the 9th month, fetus is so large that its only
comfortable position is heads down with its limbs curled in.

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 labor
✗ And as a result the mother’s uterus contracts at
irregular intervals.
✗ When these contractions are stronger, regular and
more frequent, mother enters labor and prenatal
period draws to close.
✗ And under normal circumstances birth occurs.

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4
BIRTH
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 FIRST FEW
HOURS OF NEW
BORN’S LIFE
✗ When babies left the mother’s body, babies
automatically make the transition from taking in oxygen via the
placenta to using their lungs to breathe air. Consequently, as soon
as they are outside the mother’s body, most newborns
spontaneously cry. This helps them clear their lungs and breathe on
their own.

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Monozygotic &dizygotic
twins

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Genetic Disorders

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✗ XX combination of sex
.
chromosomes makes the child a girl
✗ XY Combination of sex
chromosomes makes the child a boy.

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 Down syndrome
✗ A disorder produced by the
presence of an extra
chromosome on the twenty-
first pair. Once referred to as
mongolism
✗ Down syndrome is the most
frequent cause of mental
retardation.
✗ It occurs in about 1 out of 700
births, although the risk is
much greater in mothers who
are unusually young or old
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 Klinefelter’s syndrome
✗ Sex chromosome trisomy
✗ One male out of every 500 is born with Klinefelter’s syndrome,
the presence of an extra X chromosome.
✗ The resulting XXY complement produces underdeveloped
genitals, extreme height, and enlarged breasts.
✗ Klinefelter’s syndrome is one of a number of genetic
abnormalities that result from receiving the improper number of
sex chromosomes.

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 Turner’s syndrome
✗ The condition which only affects
females
✗ One of x chromosome is
missing( sex chromosome)
✗ Turner syndrome can cause a
variety of medical and
developmental problems, including
short height, failure of the ovaries
to develop and heart defects.

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 PHENYLKETUN
URIA
✗ It is a genetic disorder that is characterized by an inability of the
body to utilize the essential amino acid named as
phenylalanine.
✗ In PKU a child is unable to make use of phenylalanine, an
essential amino acid present in proteins found in milk and other
foods.
✗ PKU allows phenylalanine to build up to toxic levels, causing
brain damage and mental retardation.

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 PRENATAL
ENVIRONMEN
7 TAL
INFLUENCES
PRENATAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
INFLUENCES
✗ Teratology: The scientific study of congenital
abnormalities caused by prenatal environmental
influences is known as teratology.
✗ Teratogens: the environmental agents that
produce abnormalities in the developing fetus
are called teratogens.

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 ALCOHOL
✗ Fetal alcohol syndrome: pattern of malformations
✗ Brain damage, hyperactivity, learning disabilities
✗ Fetal alcohol effects: to refer to those with less extreme
symptoms.
✗ It includes alcohol related neurological disorder and alcohol
related birth defects.

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 TOBACCO
✗ Nicotine travels from placenta to fetus.
✗ Prenatal experiences reduction in blood oxygen level.
✗ Maternal smoking increases the risk of spontaneous
abortions, bleeding during pregnancy, premature rupture of
the amniotic sac, and fetal deaths.

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 DRUGS
✗ Chemicals can cause a wide range of congenital
abnormalities.
✗ In terms of narcotics, women who are addicted to
heroin, morphine, or methadone give birth to
addicted babies. Soon after birth, the babies show
symptoms of withdrawal, including tremors,
convulsions, difficulty breathing, and intestinal
disturbances.

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MATERNAL DISEASE
✗ The placenta cannot filter out extremely small
disease carriers, such as viruses, children can be born
with malaria, measles, chicken pox, mumps, syphilis.
✗ If a pregnant woman contracts rubella in the first
three months of pregnancy, she is likely to give birth
to a child with a congenital abnormality such as heart
disease, cataracts, deafness, or mental retardation.

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 AGE
✗ Teenage mothers and those over thirty-five years of
age have a higher risk of miscarriage, premature
birth, and some birth defects than mothers in the
prime childbearing years.
✗ Teenage mothers have not completed their
development yet.
✗ Mothers over 35 years of age give birth to babies
with down syndrome.

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 MATERNAL STRESS
✗ Stress can cause damaging effects on a developing fetus even
before birth. This is due to the link in the blood supply
between a pregnant women and her fetus.
✗ Have a higher risk of ADHD, autism and schizophrenia.
✗ Maternal stress has been associated to asthma, cardiovascular
diseases, hypertension, diabetes and obesity.

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THAN
KYOU:
)

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