Germinal Effect on the Baby and the Mother

The Part of Genes in Prenatal Development

Prenatal development is highly influenced past the inheritance, expression, and regulation of genes.

Learning Objectives

Explain the importance of genetics in prenatal development

Central Takeaways

Cardinal Points

• Prenatal development is the procedure that occurs during the 40 weeks prior to the nascence of a child, and is heavily influenced by genetics.
• Every person is made up of cells containing chromosomes, which are the genetic material that determines many things most a person, such equally middle and hair color, biological sex, and personality traits.
• Factor expression in organisms is carefully regulated to allow the organisms to conform to differing weather condition. Genes can either be dominant or recessive, meaning they can either be expressed or hidden.
• Gene regulation is the process by which cells differentiate: while some cells develop into encephalon cells, others develop into liver cells, intestinal cells, or the sexual reproductive organs.

Key Terms

• deoxyribonucleic acrid: A genetic component found in all living things which information technology is associated with the transmission of genetic information; consists of a polymer formed from nucleotides which are shaped into a double helix.
• chromosome: A construction in the cell nucleus that contains Dna, histone protein, and other structural proteins.
• formulation: The fertilization of an ovum by a sperm to course a zygote.
• zygote: A fertilized egg cell.

Prenatal Development

Developmental psychologists consider the procedure of human development every bit it relates to physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. This lifespan development is organized into different stages based on age. Prenatal development is the procedure that occurs during the 40 weeks prior to the nascency of a child, and is heavily influenced past genetics.

There are three stages of prenatal development—germinal, embryonic, and fetal. Prenatal evolution is also organized into trimesters: the commencement trimester ends with the end of the embryonic stage, the 2d trimester ends at week 20, and the third trimester ends at birth.

Overview of Genetic Inheritance

Chromosomes

Every person is made up of cells, each of which contains chromosomes. Chromosomes are genetic fabric that determines many things about a person, such as middle and hair color, biological sex activity, and personality traits. Deoxyribonucleic acid, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is responsible for the manual of genetic fabric. A mother and male parent'south Dna are passed on at the moment of conception.

Dna: Dna is a ladder-like construction that contains genetic material.

A human being has a total of 23 pairs of chromosomes. The developing zygote gets half of its chromosomes from one parent and half from the other parent. The first 22 pairs of chromosomes are known as autosomes and decide things such as eye and hair color. The last pair, known every bit the sex chromosomes, decide a person'south biological sex: females have two X chromosomes, while males have an X and a Y chromosome.

Gene Expression and Regulation

Cistron expression is carefully regulated in every organism to let the organism to conform to differing conditions. The expression of genetic information in a given cell or organism is neither random nor fully pre-programmed. Genes can either be dominant or recessive, pregnant they can either be expressed or hidden. Depending on the dominance of each chromosome that is inherited from each parent, the child may or may not show the inherited trait.

Gene regulation is the process by which cells differentiate. Among other things, it is the process in which a cell determines which genes it will express and when. Prison cell differentiation is a process by which a less specialized cell becomes a more specialized cell. For example, as a zygote develops, factor regulation changes some cells into brain cells and others into liver cells. Other cells will get the lining of the breadbasket, the intestines, and the sexual reproductive organs.

Mutation is when a sudden modify in a segment of the Deoxyribonucleic acid occurs. Some mutations of the genes tin can result in weather condition such as Down's syndrome or Turner's Syndrome.

The Importance of Genetics in Homo Development

Differences in gene expression—whether as a result of standard regulation processes or through mutation—are crucial to an individual'south concrete and psychological evolution. The exact extent to which genes, as opposed to an individual'southward environment, decide or influence psychological development is hotly debated; this controversy is known equally the "nature-vs.-nurture debate." Nevertheless, an private's genetic makeup at the very least serves equally a crucial baseline (which may and so be mediated past the environment) for such characteristics as the ability to begin learning spoken language, such personality traits as a tendency toward aggressive versus submissive beliefs, and hazard levels for such diseases equally alcoholism and habit.

Earlier birth, a fetus has of course had limited opportunity to be shaped by its environment, beyond factors such equally the mother's diet, substance utilise, and anxiety level. For this reason, genetics play a particularly important role in prenatal development.

Prenatal Encephalon Development

Prenatal evolution is the process of rapid change and growth that occurs in the xl weeks prior to the birth of a child.

Learning Objectives

Review the milestones of prenatal brain evolution

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• In that location are three stages of prenatal evolution: germinal, embryonic, and fetal. Prenatal development is also organized into three equal trimesters that practice not stand for with the iii stages.
• The germinal stage occurs from conception until two weeks (implantation), during which the zygote begins to chop-chop divide.
• The embryonic stage lasts from implantation (ii weeks) until the 8th calendar week of pregnancy. During this stage, rapid growth occurs and organ systems develop.
• The fetal stage lasts from week nine until the kid's birth (ordinarily between 38 and 40 weeks). Throughout this stage the brain continues to abound and develop at a rapid pace.

Primal Terms

• zygote: A fertilized egg cell.
• embryo: An organism in the earlier stages of development; in humans, commonly the cell growth up to the stop of the 7th week in utero.
• neural tube: A hollow longitudinal dorsal tube formed in the folding and subsequent fusion of the opposite ectodermal folds in the embryo that gives rising to the brain and spinal string.
• fertilization: The act of impregnating animal or vegetable gametes.

Prenatal development is the process that occurs during the 40 weeks prior to the birth of a child. There are iii stages of prenatal development: germinal, embryonic, and fetal. Prenatal evolution is as well organized into 3 equal trimesters, which do not correspond with the three stages. The first trimester ends with the end of the embryonic stage, the 2d trimester ends at week 20, and the tertiary trimester ends at nascence.

Germinal Phase

The germinal stage is the phase of development that occurs from conception until 2 weeks (implantation). Conception occurs when a sperm fertilizes an egg and forms a zygote. A zygote begins as a one-cell structure that is created when a sperm and egg merge. At the moment of conception, the mother's and male parent's Deoxyribonucleic acid are passed on to; the genetic makeup and sex of the time to come fetus are set at this point. During the starting time week after conception, the zygote rapidly divides and multiplies, going from a one-cell structure to ii cells, then four cells, then eight cells, and and then on. This process of cell division is called mitosis. Mitosis is a fragile procedure, and fewer than one-half of all zygotes survive beyond the first two weeks (Hall, 2004). After 5 days of mitosis at that place are 100 cells, and after 9 months there are billions of cells. As the cells divide, they become more than specialized, forming unlike organs and body parts. During the germinal stage, the cells necessary for the placenta, umbilical string, and amniotic fluid volition differentiate to form the embryo. The mass of cells has all the same to attach itself to the lining of the uterus; once this zipper occurs, the side by side stage begins.

Embryo: During the germinal phase of prenatal development, the cells necessary for the placenta, umbilical string, and amniotic fluid will differentiate to form the embryo.

Embryonic Stage

The embryonic stage lasts from implantation (2 weeks) until week 8 of pregnancy. Afterward the zygote divides for about vii–10 days and has 150 cells, it travels downward the fallopian tubes and implants itself in the lining of the uterus. Upon implantation, this multi-cellular organism is called an embryo. Now blood vessels grow, forming the placenta. The placenta is a structure continued to the uterus that provides nourishment and oxygen from the woman's body to the developing embryo through the umbilical cord.

During the first week of the embryonic period, the embryonic disk separates into 3 layers: the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. The ectoderm is the layer that will become the nervous system and outer skin layers; the mesoderm will become the circulatory arrangement, skeleton, muscles, reproductive system, and inner layer of pare; and the endoderm will become the respiratory arrangement and part of the digestive system, as well equally the urinary tract.

The first part of the embryo to develop is the neural tube, which will go the spinal cord and brain. As the nervous organization starts to develop, the tiny centre starts to pump claret, and other parts of the torso—such equally the digestive tract and courage—brainstorm to sally. In the second one-half of this flow, growth is very rapid. The eyes, ears, nose, and jaw develop; the heart develops chambers; and the intestines abound.

Fetal Stage

The remainder of prenatal evolution occurs during the fetal stage, which lasts from week 9 until birth (commonly between 38 and 40 weeks). When the organism is about nine weeks old, the embryo is called a fetus. At this phase, the fetus is near the size of a kidney edible bean and begins to take on the recognizable form of a man. Between ix and 12 weeks, reflexes begin to appear and the arm and legs commencement to move (those first movements won't be felt for a few weeks, however). During this same time, the sexual activity organs begin to differentiate. At most 16 weeks, the fetus is approximately 4.5 inches long. Fingers and toes are fully adult, and fingerprints are visible. By the time the fetus reaches the sixth calendar month of evolution (24 weeks), information technology weighs up to one.four pounds. Hearing has developed, so the fetus can answer to sounds. The internal organs, including the lungs, middle, stomach, and intestines, have formed enough that a fetus built-in prematurely at this point has a chance to survive outside of the womb.

Stages of development: During the fetal stage, the brain develops and the body adds size and weight, until the fetus reaches full-term evolution.

Throughout the fetal stage the brain continues to grow and develop, virtually doubling in size from weeks 16 to 28. Brain growth during this period allows the fetus to develop new behaviors. The cognitive cortex grows larger, and the fetus spends more hours awake. The fetus moves with more coordination, indicating more neural connections within the brain. The nervous organisation is controlling more than bodily functions, and fifty-fifty personality begins to emerge in utero. By 28 weeks, thalamic brain connections grade, which mediate sensory input. The fetus can distinguish between voices, and can remember songs and certain sounds subsequently nativity. The fetus becomes sensitive to light every bit well; in fact, if a doctor shines a light on the womb, the baby will attempt to shield his or her eyes. Growth begins to boring around 30 to 32 weeks, but small changes keep until nativity.

Around 36 weeks, the fetus is almost ready for birth. It weighs about vi pounds and is near 18.5 inches long, and by week 37 all of the fetus's organ systems are developed enough that information technology could survive outside the uterus without many of the risks associated with premature nativity. The fetus continues to gain weight and grow in length until approximately forty weeks. By then, the fetus has very little room to movement around and birth becomes imminent.

Timeline of prenatal development: This chart details prenatal development from conception to birth.

Ecology Impacts on Prenatal Development

Environmental factors, such as exposure to teratogens, can take a range of impacts on the developing fetus.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the impacts of teratogens and maternal stress on prenatal development

Key Takeaways

Fundamental Points

• During prenatal development, environmental factors can significantly bear upon the development of the child.
• Most everything the mother ingests, including food, liquid, and even medication, travels through the placenta to the fetus; annihilation the mother is exposed to in the environment affects the fetus.
• A teratogen is any substance or agent in the environment that tin accept a detrimental effect on a developing fetus. Diverse teratogens include drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and other environmental agents.
• The adverse effects of a teratogen depend on several factors, such as the dose or level of exposure, heredity, historic period of the teratogen, and any other negative influences.
• Any form of prenatal stress felt by the female parent can take negative furnishings on various aspects of fetal evolution; when a mother is under stress, physiological changes occur in the trunk that could harm the developing fetus.

Primal Terms

• sudden infant death syndrome: The sudden and unexplained death of an infant anile one month to 1 year, unremarkably while sleeping.
• fetal alcohol syndrome: Any of a spectrum of birth defects that result from excessive alcohol consumption by the mother during pregnancy.
• teratogen: Any amanuensis or substance which can cause malformation of an embryo or birth defects.
• zygote: A fertilized egg prison cell.
• placenta: A vascular organ in mammals, present only in the female person during gestation, that supplies nutrient and oxygen from the mother to the fetus and passes dorsum waste.

Prenatal development is the process that occurs during the 40 weeks prior to the birth of a kid. During each prenatal phase, environmental factors affect the development of the fetus. The developing fetus is completely dependent on the mother for life, and information technology is important that the mother receives prenatal care, which is medical care during pregnancy that monitors the health of both the mother and the fetus. According to the National Institutes of Health ([NIH], 2013), routine prenatal care can reduce the risk of complications to the mother and fetus during pregnancy.

When the zygote attaches to the wall of the uterus, the placenta is formed. The placenta provides nourishment and oxygen to the fetus. Well-nigh everything the mother ingests, including nutrient, liquid, and even medication, travels through the placenta to the fetus—hence the common phrase that a mother "eats for 2." Annihilation the mother is exposed to in the environment affects the fetus; if the female parent is exposed to something harmful, the child can show life-long furnishings.

Teratogens

A teratogen is any environmental substance or agent—biological, chemic, or physical—that tin have a detrimental effect on a developing fetus. Exposure to teratogens during the prenatal stage can significantly raise the take a chance of nascence defects. Several factors influence the amount of damage a teratogen can have, including dose or level of exposure, heredity, historic period of the teratogen, and whatsoever other negative influences (for example, several teratogens or a teratogen combined with poor health). There are several known teratogens that expectant mothers are advised to avoid during pregnancy, including booze, prescription and/or illegal drugs, and tobacco.

Alcohol

Alcohol and near drugs cross the placenta and affect the fetus. Booze use during pregnancy has been found to be the leading preventable cause of mental disabilities in children in the United states of america (Maier & Due west, 2001). Excessive maternal drinking while pregnant can cause fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) with life-long consequences for the child, ranging in severity from small-scale to major. It is unknown how much alcohol is necessary to cause damage, and and so doctors typically recommend that alcohol should be completely avoided during pregnancy. Physically, children with FASD may have a small head size and abnormal facial features. Cognitively, these children may have poor judgment, poor impulse control, higher rates of ADHD and learning issues, and lower IQ scores. These developmental issues and delays persist into adulthood (Streissguth et al., 2004). Based on studies conducted on animals, it likewise has been suggested that a mother's alcohol consumption during pregnancy may predispose her kid to like booze (Youngentob et al., 2007).

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: The symptoms of FASD include slow physical growth, abnormal facial features (such every bit a smooth philtrum, or no dent in the upper lip), and brain injury.

Each organ of the fetus develops during a specific period in the pregnancy, called the critical or sensitive period. Research into FASD has demonstrated that the time during which a developing fetus is exposed to booze tin can dramatically affect the advent of facial characteristics associated with FASD. Specifically, this research suggests that alcohol exposure that is limited to day xix or 20 of gestation tin lead to significant facial abnormalities in the offspring of primates (Ashley, Magnuson, Omnell, & Clarren, 1999). Given regions of the encephalon also evidence sensitive periods during which they are nearly susceptible to the teratogenic effects of booze (Tran & Kelly, 2003).

Prescription and/or Illegal Drugs

Utilise of any type of drug—whether illegal, prescription, or over-the-counter—can be unsafe during pregnancy. Illegal drugs such as heroine, cocaine, and methamphetamine tin can cause a myriad of issues for the developing fetus: babies tin can be born addicted to sure drugs and are also more likely to be born prematurely, accept depression nativity weight, and feel other physical defects. Many finish up with attention and behavioral problems likewise.

Prescription drugs taken during pregnancy such equally streptomycin, tetracycline, some antidepressants, progestin, synthetic estrogen, Accutane, thalidomide, and diethylstilbestrol (known every bit DES)—as well as over-the-counter drugs such equally diet pills—can too consequence in teratogenic outcomes for the developing fetus. Thalidomide causes bodily deformities as well equally damage to internal organs. DES-exposed fetuses take been shown to take higher rates of cancer and infertility every bit adults. Additionally, high doses of aspirin are known to lead to maternal and fetal bleeding, although low-dose aspirin is usually not harmful. The nomenclature of a drug (as A, B, C, D, or Ten) allows a mother to make determinations about using drugs during pregnancy: for example, class A drugs are deemed always safe, whereas class 10 drugs have proven to be damaging to the fetus.

Smoking

Smoking tobacco is also considered a teratogen because nicotine travels through the placenta to the fetus. When the female parent smokes, the developing baby experiences a reduction in blood oxygen levels. According to the Centers for Affliction Control and Prevention (2013), smoking while meaning can result in premature birth, low-birth-weight infants, stillbirth, and sudden baby decease syndrome (SIDS)—the sudden and unexplained death of a kid less than one year of historic period. Other bug that can be caused by prenatal exposure to smoking are inattentiveness, musculus tension, and colic (a class of hurting which starts and stops abruptly and occurs due to muscular contractions in the body). The more than a mother smokes or is exposed to second-paw smoke, the greater the gamble; however, quitting (even after smoking during pregnancy) greatly reduces the risks of these issues.

Other Teratogens

Other teratogens that affect prenatal development include radiation, pollution, and infectious affliction. Radiation increases the chance of childhood cancer, likewise as emotional and behavioral disorders; because of this, it is recommended that meaning women avoid x-rays unless admittedly necessary. Pollution, such equally exposure to mercury or PCBs, can crusade physical deformities, aberrant voice communication, and difficulty with coordination. Maternal infections such as viruses or parasites can also cause brain harm to the fetus, or even decease.

Babe in the NICU (neonatal intensive intendance unit): Exposure to teratogens during pregnancy can cause many problems for a developing fetus and newborn baby.

Maternal Stress and Low

Whatsoever form of prenatal stress felt by the mother tin can accept negative effects on various aspects of fetal evolution, and can crusade impairment to both female parent and child. When a mother is nether stress, physiological changes occur in the trunk that could impairment the developing fetus. Additionally, a stressed mother is more likely to engage in behaviors that could negatively affect the fetus, such equally smoking, drug use, and alcohol abuse. Prenatal low is often caused by the stress and worry that pregnancy can bring, only at a more severe level. Other factors that can put a person at adventure for prenatal depression include unplanned pregnancy, difficulty becoming pregnant, history of corruption, and economic or family problems.

The use of antidepressants in pregnancy, mentioned above, has been associated with a variety of risks for the fetus with varying degrees of proof of causation. While some studies clearly show the adverse outcomes of prenatal antidepressant exposure, others are less clear—and complications ascend because low itself is independently associated with negative pregnancy outcomes. Determining the extent to which adverse outcomes are acquired by antidepressant employ or by depression—or a combination of both—is difficult to measure out; it is also important to factor in the negative consequences of a mother going off prescription antidepressants during pregnancy, which may adversely effect her health in other ways.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-psychology/chapter/prenatal-development/

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