CHARLES Z. ARIOLA JR., MSN., LPT, RN.

INSTRUCTOR I
STAGES OF FETAL DEVELOPMENT

THREE TIME PERIODS OF FETAL DEVELOPMENT

- Pre-embryonic (first 2 weeks, beginning with
fertilization)
- Embryonic (weeks 3 through 8)
- Fetal (from week 8 through birth)
FERTILIZATION: THE BEGINNING OF PREGNANCY

FERTILIZATION
- Also referred to as conception and impregnation
- The union of ovum and spermatozoon
- This usually occurs in the outer third of the fallopian tube called the
AMPULLA.
- Primary oocyte (immature ovum) contains Diploid number of chromosome
(46)
- One oocyte contains haploid (23) number of chromosomes after division
- Gamete (mature ovum) is a cell or ovum that has undergone maturation
and will be ready for fertilization
 CONT...

- One gamete carries 23 chromosomes

- A sperm carries 2 types of sex chromosomes-
X and Y
- 400 million sperm cells in one ejaculation
- Functional life of spermatozoa is 48 hours
- XX = female; XY= male
PROCESS OF FERTILIZATION AND
IMPLANTATION
SPERM AND OVUM
STRUCTURE
BLASTOCYST
 TERMS TO REMEMBER
Ovum: From ovulation to fertilization
Zygote: From fertilization to implantation
Embryo: From implantation to 5-8 weeks
Fetus: From 5-8 weeks until term
Conceptus: Developing embryo and placental
structures
Age of Viability: The earliest age at which fetuses survive
if they are born is generally accepted as 24 weeks or at
the point a fetus weighs more than 500-600 g
EMBRYONIC AND FETAL STRUCTUFES
The placenta and membrane, which will
serve as the fetal lungs, kidneys, and
digestive tract in utero as well as help provide
protection for the fetus, begin growth in early
pregnancy in coordination with embryo
growth
THE DECIDUA OR UTERINE LINING
- After fertilization, the CORPUS LUTEUM in the ovary
continues to function rather than atrophying under the
influence of HUMAN CHORIONIC GONADOTROPIN
(HCG) secreted by the trophoblast cells. This hormone
also causes the uterine endometrium to continue to
grow in thickness and vascularity instead of sloughing off
as in usual menstrual cycle.
- The endometrium is now termed DECIDUA (the Latin
word for “falling off”) because it will be discarded after
birth of the child.
CHORIONIC VILLI
- As early as 11th or 12th day after fertilization, miniature
villi resembling probing fingers and termed CHORIONIC
VILLI reach out from the trophoblast cells into the uterine
endometrium to begin formation of the placenta
- It has a central core consisting of connective tissue and
fetal capillaries surrounded by double layer cells which
produce various placental hormones such as HCG,
SOMATOMAMMOTROPIN (Human Placental Lactogen),
ESTROGEN and PROGESTERONE
- The middle layer called the
CYTOTROPHOBLAST or LANGHAN’S LAYER
appears to have second function to protect
the growing embryo and fetus from certain
infectious organisms such as SPIROCHETE OF
SYPHILLIS early in pregnancy. It disappears
between the 20th and 24th week of pregnancy
THE PLACENTA
- Latin term for “pancake” which is descriptive of
its size and appearance at term
- It grows from a new identifiable trophoblastic
cells at the beginning of pregnancy to an organ
15 to 20 cm in diameter and 2 to 3 cm in depth,
covering about half the surface area of the
internal uterus at term.
FUNCTIONS OF THE PLACENTA
A. CIRCULATION
- As early as 12th day of pregnancy, maternal blood
begins to collect in the intervillous spaces of the uterine
endometrium surrounding the chorionic villi
- By 3rd week, oxygen and other nutrients such as
glucose, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, vitamins and
water osmose from the maternal blood through the cell
layers of the chorionic villi into the villi capillaries
- Placental transfer is dynamic, allowing all but a few substances
to cross from the mother into the fetus
- Because almost all drugs are able to cross into fetal circulation,
it is important that a woman take no nonessential drugs
(including alcohol and nicotine) during pregnancy.
- Because the exchange process depends on osmosis, there is no
direct exchange of blood cells between the embryo and the
mother during pregnancy. Occasionally, however, fetal cells do
cross into maternal bloodstream as well as fetal enzymes such as
Alpha Fetoprotein (AFP) produced by the fetal liver (this allows
the testing of fetal cells for genetic analysis as well as the level of
AFP in the maternal blood).
- The rate of utero-placental blood flow in
pregnancy increases from about 50 ml/min at 10
weeks to 500 to 600 mi/min at term.
- No additional maternal arteries appear after the
first 3 months of pregnancy, instead, to
accommodate the increase blood flow, the
arteries increase in size.
- The woman’s heart rate, total cardiac output
and blood volume all increase to supply blood to
the placenta
- Uterine perfusion and placental circulation are most efficient
when the mother lies on her left side or LEFT LATERAL POSITION as
this position lifts the uterus away from the inferior vena cava
preventing blood from becoming trapped in the lower
extremities
- Mother in supine position causes pressure on the vena cava
causing VENA CAVA SYNDROME manifested by SUPINE
HYPOTENSION
- At term, the placental circulatory network has grown so
extensively that a placenta weighs 400 to 600 g (1 lb),which is
1/6 the weight of the newborn
PLACENTAL CIRCULATION