Prenatal Development and Birth Flashcards
Environment
any event or condition outside the organism that is presumed to influence, or be influenced by the person’s development.
3 stages
germinal
embryonic
fetal
Germinal stage
fertilisation to 2 weeks
Embryonic stage
3-8 weeks
fetal
9 week to birth
Sensory ability at 8 weeks
responds to touch around lips and cheeks
Sensory ability at 15-16 weeks
responds to flavour of amniotic fluid
Sensory ability at 22-24 weeks
responds to sounds
Fetal learning
newborns prefer to listen to their mother’s voice and to music and stories they heard prenatally
-also learns about smells and tastes
The importance of fetal behaviour
- practice makes perfect
- forming joints and muscles
- getting ready for the breast
- attachment
- language
- boosting brain cells
Environmental influences on prenatal development
- teratogens
- the mother’s state (age, emotional and nutritional condition)
Teratogens
any disease, drug, or other environmental agent that can harm a developing fetus
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
- a characteristic pattern of abnormalities associated with alcohol intake during pregnancy
- growth deficiency
- CNS deficits (intellectual disability)
- Characteristic facial features
Safest age to bear a child
20-40 yrs old
Emotional condition in mothers
babies of highly stressed mothers tend to be small, premature and irritable
maternal malnutrition associated with…
- low birth weight
- intellectual and social deficits
Effects of environmental hazards depend on:
- timing
- severity and duration
- genetic makeup of child and mother
- postnatal environment
Stage 1 of labour
- dilation of cervix begins
- contractions are greatest and cervix opens completely
- (9 hours for first baby)
Stage 2 of labour
- baby’s head appears
- baby passes through
- 1,5 hrs
Stage 3 of labour
expulsion of the placenta
Baby during labour
- releases stress hormones and adrenalin to help baby through birth and after.
- increases metabolism which increases blood flow
APGAR test
- used to provide quick assessment of the newborn’s heart rate, respiration, colour, muscle tone and reflexes
- 0-2 (2 the highest)
APGAR stands for…
- Activity
- Pulse
- Grimace
- Appearance
- Respiration
Neonates at risk
- premature infants (born before 37 weeks)
- Low-birth-weight babies (less than 2500g at birth)
Potential problems with neonates at risk
- respiration
- maintaining body t–emperature
- immune system
- digestion
- parent-infant relations
- Haven’t developed insulating layer of fat
- Digestive system is immature
- Parents feel less confident and scared of hurting it
4 components of Kangaroo care
- Kangaroo position (skin-to-skin contact)
- Kangaroo nutrition (breastfeeding)
- Kangaroo support
- Kangaroo discharge
Benefits of Kangaroo Care
- Improves survival
- Infants calmer, less distressed
- Infants show improved cognitive performance
- Mothers feel more positive
- Improves quality of parent-child and family interactions
- Reduces hospital costs
- Parents body just as effective as an incubator. -Keeps warm and protects from infections
- Mothers body produces antibodies from germs and passes them on to baby through milk and skin
- More organised sleeping and waking patterns.
- Some think to be used to all babies to improve development and parent attachment.
Infants’ early capacities
- newborn reflexes
- sensory capacities
- cute
- crying
- smiling
- all help to facilitate close parent-child relationship
rooting reflex
automatically turn the face toward the stimulus and make sucking (rooting) motions with the mouth when the cheek or lip is touched. The rooting reflex helps to ensure successful breastfeeding.
grasping refelx
a flexion of the fingers caused by stimulation of the palm of the hand. The reflex is present at birth and usually disappears by 6 months of age.
Sucking reflex
When the roof of the baby’s mouth is touched, the baby will begin to suck. This reflex does not begin until about the 32nd week of pregnancy and is not fully developed until about 36 weeks. Premature babies may have a weak or immature sucking ability because of this.
Moro reflex
an infantile reflex normally present in all infants/newborns up to 4 or 5 months of age as a response to a sudden loss of support, when the infant feels as if it is falling. It involves three distinct components:
spreading out the arms (abduction)
unspreading the arms (adduction)
crying (usually)
Post natal depression
- affects about 13% of new mothers
- risks increased for those with a history of depression, other life stresses, lack of social support
depressed mothers may…
perceive their babies as more difficult
interact less positively with their infants
have trouble responding to their babies’ signals and establishing reciprocal, give-and-take relationships with them
