Development is multidirectional, plastic and dynamic

Affects of Environment

Poverty

• Increased stress

• External environmental risks

• Serious developmental risks

• Fewer interactions with parents but more hostile interactions as well

Intellectual ability impacted by both genes and environment

Teratogens are external substances that negatively affect foetal development

Birth defects or behavioural/developmental issues i.e. alcohol exposure to foetus

Prescription and non-prescription drugs can have significant affects on prenatal development. Thalidomide, a sedative drug is one of the most famous examples. Thalidomide causes significant deformities in arms, legs and less frequently to ears, kidneys, the heart and genitals. Over 7000 infants were affected with many scoring below average in intelligence

Diethylstilboestrol (DES) was prescribed to prevent miscarriages. children of those who took these medications often had high rates of cancer in the vagina, infertility, and often, when woman of these children tried to have children they often had premature babies

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), distinguished by (a) slow physical growth, (b) a pattern of three facial abnormalities (short eyelid openings; a thin upper lip; a smooth or flat￾tened philtrum, or indentation running from the bottom of the nose to the center of the upper lip), and (c) brain injury, evident in a small head and impairment in at least three areas of functioning—for example, memory, language and com￾munication, attention span and activity level (overactivity), planning and reasoning, motor coordination, or social skills.

Partial fetal alcohol syndrome (p-FAS), characterized by (a) two of the three facial abnormalities just mentioned and (b) brain injury, again evident in at least three areas of impaired functioning. Mothers of children with p-FAS generally drank alcohol in smaller quantities, and children’s defects vary with the timing and length of alcohol exposure

Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), in which at least three areas of mental functioning are impaired, despite typical physical growth and absence of facial abnormalities. Again, prenatal alcohol exposure, though confirmed, is less pervasive than in FAS

Germinal period: A two week period, and is the first stage of the 1st trimester. A one celled zygote multiples while other structures form

Embryo: Weeks 3-8 of the 1st trimester. Internal and external structures of the body form

Foetus. weeks 9-12 of the 1st trimester. rapid growth period, nervous system, organs and muscles become organised. Weeks 13-24 is when foetal movements become detectable, and most neurons are in place, and the foetus reacts to both sound and light. In the 3rd trimester, the 25-38 weeks, the lungs of the foetus mature, and there is a rapid increase in size. Additionally, there is rapid brain development and behavioural capacities