MODULE 4: PREGNANCY

Introduction
According to Pillitteri (2007), throughout history, different societies have held a variety of beliefs and
superstitions about the way the fetus (the infant during intrauterine life) grows. Medieval artists depicted the child in
utero completely formed as a miniature man. Leonardo da Vinci, in his notebooks of 1510 to 1512, made several
sketches of unborn infants that indicated he believed the fetus was immobile and essentially a part of the mother,
sharing her blood and internal organs. During the 17th and 18th centuries, a baby was thought to form to a miniature
size in the mother's ovaries; when male cells were introduced, the baby expanded to birth size. A second theory was
that the child existed in the head of the sperm cell as a fully formed being, the uterus serving only as an incubator in
which it grew.

It was not until 1758 that Kaspar Wolff proposed that both parents contribute equally to the structure of the
baby. Thanks to the work of modern medical researchers and photographers who have been able to capture the
process of fertilization and fetal development by high-tech photography, there is now a clear idea of what a fetus
looks like from the moment of conception until birth. Surveillance of the fetus by ultrasound documents this growth
process (Pillitteri, 2007).

Pregnancy occurs when a sperm fertilizes an egg after it’s released from the ovary during ovulation. The
fertilized egg then travels down into the uterus, where implantation occurs. A successful implantation results in
pregnancy. On average, a full-term pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. There are many factors that can affect a pregnancy.
Women who receive an early pregnancy diagnosis and prenatal care are more likely to experience a healthy
pregnancy and give birth to a healthy baby. Knowing what to expect during the full pregnancy term is important for
monitoring both your health and the health of the baby (Healthline.com,2011).