Prenatal Development and Hazards Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Prenatal Development and Hazards Deck (12)
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1
Q

What are the 4 stages of prenatal development

A
  1. Cell division.
  2. Cell migration. Cells move away from their point of origin
  3. Cell differentiation. Embryonic stem cells specialise their structure and function
  4. Death. Cells disappear where they are not needed
2
Q

Describe Fetal Behaviour

A

5-6 weeks. Moves spontaneously
7 weeks. Hiccups and swallowing, prepares for drinking and digestive system develops. Moves limbs
10 weeks. Fetal breathing. Amniotic fluid taken in

3
Q

Describe Fetal Experience

A

Sight. Minimal visual experience. Rub faces and suck thumb. Bumps against uterus

Taste. Amniotic fluid has a taste. Prefer sweet tastes. Drunk more fluid when it was sweetened

Smell. Smells like what mother has eaten. Comes in to contact with odour receptors when fetus breathes.

Hearing. Womb is noisy e.g breathing, blood pumping, digestion, mothers voice. Heart rate decelerates when hearing mothers voice.

4
Q

Describe Fetal Learning

A

Habituation. 30 weeks fetuses show habituation to auditory and visual stimuli. Heart rate increased to mothers voice and decreased to other woman’s voice

Memory. Can remember smell of amniotic fluid. Turn head to side of pad soaked in their own fluid. Mother drank carrot juice near end of pregnancy - baby responded more positively to cereal in carrot juice

Auditory preference - newborns prefer mothers voice distorted like to would sound it in the womb. Prefer to listen to the language spoken when they were in the womb

5
Q

What are teratogens and how are they a prenatal hazard

A

Environmental agents that may harm a fetus.
Only cause damage during sensitive periods.

E.g thalidomide. Caused birth defects of missing limbs if taken during 4th to 6th week.

6
Q

How are drugs a prenatal hazard

A

Over the counter drugs - accutane can cause serious birth defects and death

antidepressants - negative effects of SSRIs. Inconclusive evidence. May be low birth weight, preterm birth and withdrawal

Opioids - fetus can become addicted. Low birth weight, seizures, problems breathing and feeding

Illegal drugs - marijuana. Doubles risk of stillborn birth.

7
Q

What maternal factors are prenatal development hazards

A

Age - babies born to mothers 15 and under are more likely to die before 1. Older parents - more likely to have chromosomal abnormalities and autism

Nutrition - not enough folic acid can lead to neural tube defect. Malnutrition can lead to smaller brain. Difficult to isolate from other factors of poverty

Disease - e.g rubella. Malformations, deafness, blindness. Genital herpes - blindness and death. AIDS - can be passed on. Schizophrenia - more likely if mother had influenza during first trimester

Maternal emotional state - higher stress higher levels of fetal movement, more behaviour problems, more emotional problems

8
Q

What are states of arousal in infants

A

Sleep - most of it is R.E.M. Activates the visual system. May be learning when they’re asleep. Can remember sounds played when asleep.

Crying - adaptive. Aids survival. Normal behaviour, increases until 8 weeks. Soothing helps, repetitive stimuli e.g rocking, swaddling. Cry less when interacting with adults.

9
Q

What are negative outcomes at birth

A

Mortality - low in developed countries. Less poverty, famine, illnesses

Low birth weight - premature. Can be due to teratogens e.g smoking, drinking, drugs, pollution. More common in multiple births. Can affect babies in later life e.g poor academic achievement, poor behaviour, psychiatric issues. Most end up normal.

10
Q

How is smoking a prenatal hazard

A

decreased oxygen to fetus. Slower growth, low birth weight, SIDS, low IQ, ADHD, hearing loss

11
Q

How is alcohol a prenatal hazard

A

Alcohol - directly and indirectly, through bloodstream and amniotic fluid. Fetal alcohol syndrome. Small eyes, flat Cupid’s bow, attention problems, intellectual disability

12
Q

How are teratogens a prenatal hazard

A

Have a dose response relationship - more exposure worse effects.

Occur in combination e.g poverty, poor nutrition, poor healthcare, pollution, stress

Can effect fetal programming - Dutch winter hunger women gave birth to babies of normal weight. Later in life had obesity issues. Metabolism permanently set in the womb