3.2 Miracle of Prenatal Development and Birth (Conception, Zygote, Embryo, Fetus, Birth)

Identify the order of the stages of development from prenatal development to birth.

Each human being begins at the moment of conception. Males produce about 200 million sperm that are released during each episode of intercourse. One of those 200 million finally reaches and penetrates the protective coating around the female’s single egg. This is called conception. When conception occurs, the egg’s surface hardens to prevent any other sperm from penetrating. This egg is now fertilized and is called a zygote.

When a zygote is about ten days old, it becomes an embryo, which attaches to the wall of the uterus. For the next six weeks, internal organs are formed and begin to function.

In just over two months after conception, the embryo transforms into a very human-looking fetus. The unborn child is called a fetus from now until he or she is born. Although doctors and pregnant mothers refer to pregnancy in terms of trimesters (three periods of three months each), you can see that for the majority of pregnancy, the unborn child is identified as a fetus. The last month of the first trimester and each month of the second and third trimesters are all identified as time for the development of the fetus.

The birth event is marvelous! I was fortunate enough to have been with my wife when each of our children was born. We got to take prenatal instruction together prior to our children’s births where I got dubbed as a “coach.” When the labor and birth pains got so intense that my wife dug her fingernails into my hands and arms, I hoped I could take her pain away, but could not. We made decisions about pain control through controlled breathing and about delivering “naturally” versus using medication to kill the pain. Miraculously, within minutes after each child’s birth, my wife’s memory was void of the intensity of her birth pains. When visitors came to visit her and our newborns, she would describe her labor and birth as much less long and painful than it really had been. When I would add the real facts of her experience, she would look at me incredulously and ask if it had really been that long, hard, or painful. Most women have this postpartum amnesia associated with childbirth pain.

Early Life

In spite of a newborn’s helplessness, he or she is amazingly competent with inborn abilities to survive. Most children will turn their heads toward their mothers’ voice, can gaze, and will suck without any teaching. Although nurturing encouragement enhances what a child is born to do, so much comes very naturally from inborn wiring (heredity).