Human growth and development from conception to birth
Mia Lock Unit 4 - Maureen Orchard
Human growth and development from conception to birth
First trimester
st month - 4 weeks
By the fourth week of pregnancy the embryo is already encased in an amniotic sac of fluid. It's grey in colour and jelly-like, but already has a heart beat the size of a poppy seed which is beating on its own. The embryo is 1/4 inch in length and its heart, digestive system, backbone and spinal cord now begin to form, the placenta also begins developing. The single fertilized egg is now 10,000 larger than the size at conception.
2nd month - 8 weeks
By the eighth week of pregnancy the embryo is about one inch in length and is starting to look like a real baby. The embryo's limbs are developing and its fingers and toes are nearly complete. At the end of the eighth week the penis begins to appear in males and also the embryo is moving, although the mother can not yet feel movement.
Page 1 of 15
3rd month - 12 weeks
A 12 week fetus measures around 8cm (3in) and weighs about a 1/2 to one oz.All its major body organs and tissues have formed and he or she is already making jaw movements, sucking and swallowing. A fetal heart rate can be heard at 10 weeks with a special Doppler instrument. By 12 weeks the fetus develops a recognisable form, the arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet and toes are fully formed and nails start to develop and earlobes are formed, although the eyes aren't fully developed yet.
Page 2 of 15
Second trimester
4th month - 16 weeks
At the end of 4 months the fetus is about 6 1/2 to 7 inches long and weighs about 6 to 7 oz. The second trimester is when the baby becomes more recognisably human, its neck uncurls, eyes are closer together and arms,legs, fingernails and toenails are well developed. The tooth buds are developing and sweat glands are formimg on palms and soles. Because the fetus is developing reflexes such as sucking and swallowing, the fetus may begin to suck his or her thumb. At this stage the skin is bright pink, transparent and covered with soft, downy hair and the sex is now identifiable. Although the fetus is recognisably human in appearance, it would not be able to survive outside the mother's body.
5th month - 20 weeks
At the end of 5 months the fetus is about 8 to 10 inches long and weighs about 1 lb. Between 17 and 20 weeks you may actually start to feel him/her move, more a fluttery sensation than an actual kick at first. His or her organs are maturing and eyebrows, eyelids and eyelashes start to appear; he or she can now suck their thumb, hiccup and hear your voice. Hair will begin to grow on his or her head and he or she has also started to grow fine hair called lanugo all over its body, some of these hairs may remain until a week after birth when it is shed.
Page 3 of 15
6th month - 24 weeks
At the end of 6 months the fetus is about 11 to 14 inches long and weighs about 1 3/4 to 2 lb. The eyelids begin to part and eyes open occasionally for a short period of time. By the end of the second trimester at 24 weeks it would be possible now for a baby to survive if he or she arrives prematurely. He or she would require intensive care, but increasing numbers of babies are surviving at this age. Fat stores are beginning to be ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
Page 3 of 15
6th month - 24 weeks
At the end of 6 months the fetus is about 11 to 14 inches long and weighs about 1 3/4 to 2 lb. The eyelids begin to part and eyes open occasionally for a short period of time. By the end of the second trimester at 24 weeks it would be possible now for a baby to survive if he or she arrives prematurely. He or she would require intensive care, but increasing numbers of babies are surviving at this age. Fat stores are beginning to be laid down and he or she can now wiggle its toes and grip with its hands.
Page 4 of 15
7th month - 24 weeks
At the end of 7 months the fetus is about 14 to 16 inches long and weighs about 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lb. His or her taste buds have developed and the skin in still wrinkled and red and is covered with vernix, a thick white grease which protects him or her against absorbing too much amniotic fluid - this will usually have disappeared by the time its born. If born at this time, he or she will still be considered a premature baby and require special care.
Third trimester
8th month - 32 weeks
At the end of 8 months the fetus is about 16 1/2 to 18 inches long and weighs about 4 to 5 lb. By the start of the third trimester the baby is already laying down fat stores and his or her lungs are strengthening in preparation for birth, there is also a tremendous brain growth occurring at this time. Movements or kicks are strong enough to be visible from the outside and the skin is now less wrinkled. He or she is able to tell the difference between day and night and is starting to recognise his or her mother's voice.
Page 5 of 15
9th month - 38 weeks
By 36 weeks the baby is close to its full term length of around 18 to 20 inches and weighs about 6 lb. His or hers growth will not be as rapid now, but he or she should continue to gain weight at about 9 oz a week. The vernix and lanugo should be disappearing now. By 38 weeks of pregnancy the baby will be ready to be born at any time during the next four weeks and can survive outside the mother's body. The lungs are now mature and the skin is pink and smooth. He or she will measure about 14 inches from crow to rump and weighs an average of 6 lb and 13 oz and his or hers head and abdomen are about the same circumference. There's not much room left inside now so his or her movements won't be so vigorous, but he or she should still move more than 10 times in every 12 hours.
Page 6 of 15
Page 7 of 15
Page 8 of 15
Page 9 of 15
Human growth and development from birth to 12 months
Stages in language development
0 - 8 weeks - Basic biological noises
Expression: Over the first few weeks of life, a babies vocal sound directly reflect its biological state and activities, states of hunger, pain or discomfort that cause fussing and crying are known as reflexive noises. Bodily actions which are concerned with survival - breathing, eating and excreting give rise to a wide range of vegetative noises, such as sucking, swallowing, coughing and burping. It is often difficult to determine the nature of baby's cries during this period.
Reception: The baby will turn its head to regard a nearby speaker and react appropriately to meaningful sounds for example, when its meal is being prepared. Just as very young infants show a preference for human faces, so they are able to distinguish and show a preference for listening to human speech.
8 - 20 weeks - Cooing and laughing
Expression: Cooing sounds develop alongside crying, but are produced when the baby is in a settled state. These cooing sounds are quieter, lower pitched and more musical than crying; they usually consist of a short, vowel-like sound preceded by a consonant-like sound made toward the back of the mouth. Later in this period, cooing sounds are strung together - often 10 or more at a time. Some of these sequences, such as "ga" and "gu" begin to resemble the syllables of later speech. At around four months, the first throaty chuckles and laughs come out.
Reception: The baby can now localise sounds and pays interested attention to nearby meaningful sounds, particularly familiar voices.
20 - 30 weeks - Vocal play
Page 10 of 15
Expression: There is a lot of variation in the sounds produced during vocal play. The sounds are much steadier and longer than those of cooing are. Most voice sequences last
over one second and are usually at a high pitch level; they consist of consonant and vowel-like sequences that are often repeated. There seems to be a strong element of practice in the vocal activities of this period.
Reception: The baby now begins to respond in a discriminating way to emotional overtones in the speech of familiar adults for example, soothing or annoyed.
25 - 50 weeks - Babbling
Expression: A similar set of sounds is used in babbling but the sounds are much less varied. Sequences such as "bababa" are common and are termed reduplicated babbling because of the repeated use of the same consonant sound. This later develops into variegated babbling, in which consonants and vowels change from one syllable to the next, for example, "adu". Whilst babbling appears to have no meaning, the rhythm and syllable length often resemble the words of later speech.
Reception: The baby becomes increasingly competent at localising sounds from greater distances. Towards the end of this period, babies imitate adults playful sounds, including occasional word forms. Babies now know and turn to their own name.
9 - 18 months - Melodic utterances, holophrastic speech
Expression: Towards the end of this child's' first year, variations in melody, rhythm and tone of voice become a major feature of speech. Individual syllables are increasingly used with a fixed melody or intonation, producing "proto-words", where the sounds are clear but the meaning is often unclear. These are the first real signs of language development, and children growing up in different language environments begin to sound increasingly unlike each other. At around 15 months the child will spontaneously use single words in the correct context, and often points to familiar objects or to things that
Page 11 of 15
he/she wants. Often one word is used to mean different things; this is called holophrase, for example "car" may mean, "Give me the car" or "look at the car".
Reception: The child now turns to another's voice appropriately and may obey simple instructions. At this stage, children will also recognise words for several common objects and activities.
Emotional and social development
Psychodynamic theories of emotional and social development focus on the importance of unconscious motives; in this approach the relationship of the child with "significant others" and the quality of attachment, particularly in early childhood, is seen as critical.
Birth - 4 weeks
* The baby responds to sounds, especially familiar voices
* He or she will quieten when picked up
* He or she makes eye contact and cries to indicate need
* He or she may move his or her eyes towards the direction of sound
4 - 8 weeks
* The baby recognises his or her carer and familiar objects
* He or she is beginning to repeat enjoyable movements, for example, thumb sucking
* He or she makes non-crying noises such as cooing and gurgling
* Their cry becomes more expressive and he or she looks in the direction of sounds
8 - 12 weeks
* The baby at this stage is still distressed by sudden loud noises
* He or she will take greater interest in surroundings
* He or she laughs and vocalises with increasing tone and intensity
Page 12 of 15
* He or she will often suck or lick his or her lips when he or she hears sounds of food preparation
* He or she will also show excitement at sound of approaching footsteps or voices
* He or she will attempt conversational babble
6 - 20 weeks
* The baby recognises her bottle or other familiar objects
* He or she will laugh and squeal with pleasure
* He or she also reacts to tones of voice; he or she will be upset by an angry tone and cheered by a happy one
6 - 9 months
* The baby now understands signs such as that bib means that food is coming, he or she also understands "up" and "down" and makes appropriate gestures, for example, raising his or her arms to be picked up
* The baby now babbles tunefully with lots of imitation
* He or she can imitate, clap and play peek-a-boo
* From 8 - 9 months, babies show that they know objects exist even when they have gone out of sight
9 - 12 months
* The baby uses more expressive babbling now; he or she may even produce their first word - often "mama", "dada" or "bye-bye"
* He or she now understands their daily routine and will follow simple instructions, for example "kiss teddy"
Physical development of skills and abilities
Development of gross and fine motor skills
Page 13 of 15
Gross motor skills use the large muscles in the body and include crawling, walking, running, climbing etc. These develop particularly rapidly during the first 18 months of life.
Fine motor skills involve precise use of hands and fingers for activities such as pointing, drawing, using a knife and fork, writing, doing up shoe laces etc.
Infancy (0 - 2 years)
Gross motor skills and newborn reflexes
Several reflexes are observed at birth or shortly afterwards
* A newborn baby will automatically suck objects placed in its mouth
* A baby's hands grip tightly onto objects placed in them
* If the sole of a baby's foot is stroked, its toes will curl
* The baby will show a startle reflex in response to loud noises. The arms and legs are pulled up, with the elbows flexed and the hands closed
* The baby will also show the moro reflex, which differs from the startle reflex in that the elbow is extended and the hands open
Page 14 of 15
Age
Gross and fine motor skills
Newborn
* Innate reflexes: sucking, stepping, gripping
* Plantar reflexes
* Startle reflexes
2 months
* Can lift head when lying face down
3 months
* Holds rattle placed in hands
* Turns head to sound
4 months
* Puts hands together
5 months
* Can reach for, and grasp an object
6 months
* Sits (hands used for support)
* Rolls over
* Transfers object from one hand to the other
7 months
* Sits without using hands for support
8 months
* Leans forward to reach for objects when sitting
9 months
* Pulls up to standing position
* Crawls
* "Inspects" objects with index finger
0 months
* Offers object to carer, but will not release it.
1 months
* Walks holding on to furniture ("cruising")
year
* Gives object to carer
* "Walks" on hands and feet
* Throws objects down repeatedly ("casting")
References:
http://www.slideshare.net/catherinepatterson/human-fetal-development-conception-to-birth-baby-presentation/
Emma's Diary spring - Summer 2008
Heineman GNVG Health and Social Care 2000
Hodder A level Health and Social care - Third edition
Page 15 of 15
