Child Development From Infancy to Adolescence. Laura E. Levine
is the new mother’s experience usually like?
2 How do men typically adjust to fatherhood?
3 How does the birth of a baby often affect the parents’ relationship?
Critical Thinking
Why do you think parental leave policies in the United States are so different from those in other Western, industrialized countries? What would we need to do to convince policymakers to make these policies more family friendly?
Conclusion
In this chapter, we described the journey that is prenatal development. This journey starts with a single fertilized cell and ends with a newborn ready to begin interacting with the environment and the people in it. Despite many potential risks, the majority of pregnancies end with the birth of a healthy, well-functioning baby, and in spite of the difficulties parents encounter along the way, most would, and do, choose to do it all over again. In the next chapters, we look at physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development during infancy and toddlerhood. Throughout the journey that unfolds in the pages to follow, we look at development in its many contexts, considering both those aspects that impact all or almost all children and those aspects that make each a unique individual.
Chapter Summary
4.1 What happens during the three stages of prenatal development?
During ovulation, a woman’s ovary releases an egg or ovum. If the ovum is fertilized by a sperm, the resulting zygote multiplies until it becomes a blastocyst, which implants in the lining of the uterus. This is the germinal stage, from conception to 2 weeks postconception. In the embryonic stage, from 2 weeks to 2 months postconception, the cells increase to form an inner cell mass that becomes the embryo, and a ring of cells that becomes the support system, including the placenta, the amnion, and the chorion. During organogenesis, all the major organ systems are laid down. This is a critical period in development, and the developing embryo is vulnerable to teratogens, which can disrupt the developmental process. Development proceeds in a cephalocaudal direction. In the third stage, the fetal stage, from 2 months to birth, the fetus grows in size and weight, and all the organ systems become functional prior to birth.
4.2 What are some risks and health issues during pregnancy?
Miscarriage is not uncommon in early pregnancy, and is most often caused by genetic abnormalities, but we don’t always know why it happens. Getting early and regular prenatal visits, having a healthy diet, and getting an appropriate amount of rest and exercise will help ensure that a pregnancy progresses normally. A pregnant woman should avoid alcohol, which can result in fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and stop smoking, which is associated with low birth weight, premature births, and later developmental problems. The use of illegal drugs threatens a pregnancy directly. Prescription and over-the-counter drugs should be taken only in consultation with the woman’s physician. Preexisting illnesses should be treated to protect the unborn baby. The risk of a maternal HIV infection being transmitted to an infant has been reduced, but Zika poses a new threat. Pregnant women should reduce their stress level because stress hormones can cross the placenta and should avoid environmental toxins, especially endocrine disruptors, whenever possible.
4.3 What happens during the process of labor and delivery?
In the first stage of labor, contractions dilate and efface the cervix to 10 centimeters. In the second stage, the infant is born. In the third stage, the placenta is delivered. Women decide where they will deliver their babies and who will assist them. Babies are physiologically prepared to handle the stress of the birth experience. The newborn’s condition can be assessed using the Apgar scale. The circumstances of a woman’s labor and delivery vary greatly across cultures.
4.4 How do newborns function, and what threatens their well-being?
All the newborn’s senses are functional by the time of a full-term birth. The infant has different infant states—sleep, quiet alertness, active alertness, and crying—that help keep sensory stimulation at a manageable level. Infants differ in how regular their schedules are and how easy they are to soothe. Infants born prematurely, at low birth weight, or small for gestational age are at increased risk of physical and cognitive developmental problems, but early intervention can help these infants reach their full potential. Intensive medical care in the modern neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), kangaroo care, and infant stimulation improve weight gain and functioning.
4.5 How do people experience the transition to parenthood?
New parents often become enthralled with their new baby. However, exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and doubts about their competence may be concerns for them. Some new mothers suffer from the “baby blues,” which are relatively mild and short-term, but others experience depression with peripartum onset, which is more severe and long-lasting and requires intervention. The participation of fathers in childbirth and child care varies widely across cultures. Marital relations must go through a period of readjustment; some dissatisfaction is a common outcome. Having realistic expectations for how becoming a parent will affect other aspects of the parents’ lives helps make this transition positive. Learning to care for their new baby promotes feelings of competence in most parents and a sense of satisfaction in the parenting role.
Key Terms
Abortion 109
Active labor 119
Apgar Scale 125
Blastocyst 102
Cephalocaudal development 105
Couvade 131
Depression with peripartum onset 131
Doula 123
Early labor 119
Embryo 102
Embryonic stage 104
Endocrine disruptors 118
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) 112
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) 112
Fetal stage 105
Fetus 105
Germinal stage 102
Gestational age 108
Infant states 126
Infertility 103
Inner cell mass 102
Low birth weight 127
Microcephaly 117
Miscarriage 108
Organogenesis 104
Ovulation 101
Ovum 101
Placenta 104
Premature or preterm birth 127
Small for gestational age 128
Teratogens 111
Transition 119
Trophoblast 102
Ultrasound 105