During the past two decades, remarkably detailed knowledge of the human fetus and his or her immediate environment has accummulated. Until recently, the intrauterine sanctuary of the fetus was held to be inviolate. The anatomical, physiological, and b...
During the past two decades, remarkably detailed knowledge of the human fetus and his or her immediate environment has accummulated. Until recently, the intrauterine sanctuary of the fetus was held to be inviolate. The anatomical, physiological, and biovhemical adaptations that take place in women during the span of human pregnancy are profound. Many of .these changes begin soon after fertilization and continue throughout gestation, most of these remarkable adepation occur in response to physiological stimuli provided by the fetus. Equally surprising is that the woman who was pregnant is returned almost completely to her pre-pregnant state after delivery.
The many advance in diagnosis and treatment that now c1early establish the fetus as a patient.
During the thrid trimester of pregancy, integration of nervous muscular function proceeds rapidly, so that the majority of fetuses delivered after 32nd week of gestation survive. By the 7th lunar month, the eye is sensitive to light, but the percepion of form and color is not complete until long after brith. The fetus apparently hears some sounds in utero as early as the 24th to 26th week of gestation.