Influences On Prenatal Development, The Evidence

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Many scientists believe that anything that effects the environment of the fetus can have an effect upon development beginning at conception and not birth. Prenatal development is over a period of 9 months or 38 weeks. Over this period prenatal development is divided into 3 periods; (a) the zygote (b) the embryo and (c) the fetus. During the course of prenatal development, many external agents may cause developmental deviations in the fetus. (Ross Parke & Mary Gauvain 2009). Teratogens are the name given to external agents that can disturb the development or an embryo or fetus. These teratogens can be environmental like smoking or the consumption of alcohol. However they can also be influenced by maternal factors like the age and diet of the mother. In this essay I will examine how smoking, alcohol and the mother’s diet influence prenatal development. Cigarette smoking is proven to have a negative effect on the smoker so how could it be any different for a fetus exposed to nicotine. Researchers have found that smoking and drinking are associated with disturbances in the placental functioning and with changes in maternal physiology that lead to oxygen deprivation and may produce structural and functional changes in the brain of a fetus ( Mavis Hetherington & Ross Parke). Mothers that smoke have a higher increase of infants being born with growth deficiencies rather than non-smokers. Also common with maternal smoking is Sudden Infant Death Syndrom (SIDS). This is when infants under the age of 6 months stop breathing and die for no apparent reason. Passive smoking is also a great danger to an unborn child. Studies have shown that passive smoke can cause a delay in intellectual and behavioural development, and babies exposed in the utero to passive smoke are at increased risk of pneumonia, bronchitis and laryngitis(Ross Parke & Mary Gauvain 2009). Having both parents

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