Pregnancy
Pregnancy[1] is when an individual with a uterus has an unborn baby (a prenatal foetus) inside of them. Humans give birth to live young. Almost all mammals give birth to live offspring (their young) to end pregnancy. If the birth goes well and there are no serious complications during pregnancy, then a healthy human is born. In other animals which lay eggs, such as birds, they do not give birth to a bird, but lay an egg which needs to develop further to hatch.
It is called being "pregnant" to be carrying an unborn foetus. Before 9 weeks, the foetus is developing as an embryo. A human pregnancy is about 38 weeks long, from conception to childbirth. Usually the mother has one baby at a time. Sometimes the mother has two babies at one time, and when this happens, the babies are called twins. Siblings who are twins might not look like each other, but if they do, they are called identical twins. The mother can have three or more babies at one time. Three siblings born at the same time are triplets, and four are quadruplets, and so on. Multiple birth does not happen very often in humans.[2] About one in 85 pregnancies are of twins, and about one in 7,000 are of triplets. Some animals birth multiple young at a time after every pregnancy.
Some people have trouble becoming pregnant. This is called infertility. Women and men with infertility may take drugs or have surgery to help a pregnancy start. Some people use treatments that are not natural, like in vitro fertilization, to become pregnant with the help of a doctor.
Conception (Start)
[change | change source]Pregnancy usually starts after two people have sexual intercourse. The ovum (or egg) and the sperm (seed) come together and form a zygote (fertilized egg) inside of the childbearer.
Growth of the baby
[change | change source]When the egg and the seed come together, it makes one cell called a zygote. The zygote grows into an embryo, which grows into a fetus. When the fetus is ready, the baby is born.
Embryo at 4 weeks after fertilization[3]
Fetus at 8 weeks after fertilization[4]
Fetus at 18 weeks after fertilization[5]
Fetus at 38 weeks after fertilization[6]
Relative size in 1st month (simplified illustration)
Relative size in 3rd month (simplified illustration)
Relative size in 5th month (simplified illustration)
Relative size in 9th month (simplified illustration)
Length of pregnancy
[change | change source]Human pregnancy is divided into three parts called trimesters. A trimester is about three months long. During the first trimester, the childbearer might feel ill in their stomach and need to urinate often. During the second trimester, their abdomen starts to stick out. During the third trimester, their abdomen sticks out even more, and they become even heavier.
Birth
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At the end of a full pregnancy, the childbearer pushes the baby out through the vagina. This is called delivering a baby or giving birth. Parents can get help for birth from a midwife, nurse, or doctor. In some places, parents give birth at home. In other places, parents give birth in a hospital. Parents who are ill or hurt may need to go to a hospital.
Giving birth may be extremely painful, and hospitals may administer an epidural to ease the pain and make the birthing process smoother.
If the baby cannot be pushed out, then a doctor can cut the uterus open to take the baby out. This operation is called a Caesarean section.
Social problems
[change | change source]Article 11 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women declares that pregnant individuals must be given time away from work or equal welfare for their baby without losing their job.
Sometimes, people who are teenagers become pregnant. Teenage pregnancies have a set of problems, which need to be carefully considered.
Pregnancy problems
[change | change source]Sometimes there are problems with pregnancies. A miscarriage (spontaneous abortion) is when the baby dies before it is born. A stillbirth is when the baby is dead when it is born. There are also diseases caused by pregnancy.
Pregnancy is not risk free. Sometimes, individuals die from giving birth. In developed countries, this is much less common than it used to be. Every year, about 500,000 people die from giving birth, while about 7,000,000 people have major complications from giving birth.[7]
For example, giving birth can tear the childbearer's body and cause an obstetric fistula. Complications during childbirth like these, and others, is why sometimes, abortions are carried in places where they are usually not. If there is risk to the parent during pregnancy or giving birth then it is said that it needs to happen. In these cases (called exceptions) it is for the safety of the person giving birth. Some states in the U.S. that have otherwise banned abortion have to make an exception to protect the woman. The other way of doing it is for those places to let the dangerous pregnancies be carried out.
During pregnancy, the childbearer is less mobile because of the extra weight. Pregnancy may cause the ankles to become swollen, and someone who is pregnancy may need to sit down more. Talking to friends and family, and loved ones, is important during pregnancy, if it is preventing mobility. Light exercise is useful and so are other ways of keeping the mind busy, such as reading or listening to music, which can help pass the time.
Abortion
[change | change source]A pregnancy can also stop without the baby being born. This is called abortion. Doctors can do things that will stop a pregnancy. Such an abortion is called induced abortion. Countries have different laws about induced abortions. Some countries allow it, and others do not. In some countries, it is allowed, but only for certain reasons, such as the pregnancy resulting from rape, or a doctor saying that the pregnant woman might die if the pregnancy is not stopped. People also have different opinions about abortion. Often, these are influenced by religious beliefs.
There are a few diseases that can kill a woman or make her very ill if she has a baby. Having abortions could save the lives or health of these mothers.
Pregnancy test
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A pregnancy test is something that women use to tell whether they are pregnant. The woman urinates on the stick. If the woman is pregnant, a plus sign or two lines will appear on the stick.[8] If the woman is not pregnant, then a minus sign or one line will appear on the stick.
Other websites
[change | change source]References
[change | change source]- ↑ "MeSH Browser". meshb.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-05.
- ↑ Baldwin, Virginia J. (1994). Pathology of Multiple Pregnancy. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 349. ISBN 978-0-387-94011-3.
- ↑ 3D Pregnancy Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (Image from gestational age of 6 weeks). Retrieved 2007-08-28. A rotatable 3D version of this photo is available here Archived 2007-09-14 at the Wayback Machine, and a sketch is available here Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ 3D Pregnancy Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (Image from gestational age of 10 weeks). Retrieved 2007-08-28. A rotatable 3D version of this photo is available here Archived 2007-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, and a sketch is available here Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ 3D Pregnancy Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (Image from gestational age of 20 weeks). Retrieved 2007-08-28. A rotatable 3D version of this photo is available here Archived 2007-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, and a sketch is available here Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ 3D Pregnancy Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine (Image from gestational age of 40 weeks). Retrieved 2007-08-28. A rotatable 3D version of this photo is available here Archived 2007-09-16 at the Wayback Machine, and a sketch is available here Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Education material for teachers of midwifery : midwifery education modules (PDF) (2nd ed.). Geneva [Switzerland]: World Health Organisation. 2008. p. 3. ISBN 978-92-4-154666-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2016-08-31.
- ↑ "Home Pregnancy Test Kits". IMG Health Publications. Archived from the original on 23 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
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