Pregnancy and Birth

Pregnancy
1. if the egg cell meets a sperm cell in an oviduct, fertilisation can occur (the nuclei from 2 cells fuse.
2. The fertilised egg cell divides to form a ball of cells ( an embryo). The embryo travels to the uterus where it sinks into the soft lining. (implantation). The woman is now pregnant.
3. once it has developed all its organs (after about 10 weeks) it is called a foetus.
4. It takes about 40 weeks (9 months) for a fertilised egg cell to grow into a baby ready to be born. This time is called the gestation period.
5. fertilised egg cell
  1. fertilised egg cells of many animals grow and develop outside their parents. this is called external development.
  2. Humans use internal development and produce fewer offspring than animals using external development because the growing embryos are protected by the mother.
6. Inside the uterus
  1. Whilst inside the uterus, the foetus is supplied with oxygen and food by the placenta.
  2. The placenta also gets rid of waste from the foetus.
  3. The umbilical cord connects the foetus to the placenta.
7. If the mother smokes, drinks alcohol or takes drugs when pregnant she might damage the baby. the baby might be premature.
Birth
1. When the baby is ready to be born, the uterus starts contractions and the woman goes into labour.
2. The muscles of the cervix relax, the baby is pushed head first through the cervix and the vagina .
3. After birth the baby starts to breathe and the cord is cut. The scar left behind is the navel
4. After this the placenta is pushed out of the uterus, this is the afterbirth.
5. The mother's breasts contain mammary glands that produce milk to feed the baby. breast milk contains antibodies that help destroy microbes that might cause disease in the baby.

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Pregnancy and Birth

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	Created by eamoshimonsters almost 11 years ago