What does each structure does during the foetal stage according to the brief below
The foetal stage
During the foetal stage, which lasts from around eight weeks after
conception until birth, the structure and systems that developed during
the embryonic stage grow in size and efficiency. During the third and
fourth months, male or female sex organs develop. From the fourth
month of pregnancy, the mother starts to be able to feel movements of
the foetus.
At roughly the beginning of the fifth month, foetuses are able to
respond to sound and can orient themselves to the mother’s movements.
Towards the end of this month, the part of the brain that will be
responsible for complex, conscious thought – the cerebral cortex – is
completed. During the sixth month, the foetus’s eyelids open and the
eyes begin to move. The foetus is able to breathe and even cry. By the
seventh month, the foetus’s brain is able to control breathing, swallowing
and body temperature. The foetus also has the nerve cell capacity to see,
hear, smell, taste and to vocalise. Many reflexes such as grasping and
sucking, which are important for the newborn’s survival, are now
established.
By about 26 weeks, the foetus reaches the zone of viability; in other
words, the foetus would have a chance of survival if born prematurely.
However, premature birth carries risks of increased school and behaviour
problems, as well as psychiatric disorders in adulthood (De Jong et al.,
2012; Laerum et al., 2019; Johnson & Marlow, 2017). By the beginning of
the ninth month, the foetus, which once floated with ease in the amniotic
fluid, is so large that movements inside the uterus become restricted. The
foetus now curls up into the classic foetal position and usually settles into
a head-down position in readiness for birth.
- Male or female sex organs develop during the third and fourth months.
- Foetuses begin to respond to sound and can orient themselves to the mother’s movements around the fifth month.
- The cerebral cortex, responsible for complex, conscious thought, is completed towards the end of the fifth month.
- The foetus’s eyelids open and the eyes begin to move during the sixth month.
- By the seventh month, the foetus’s brain can control breathing, swallowing, and body temperature, as well as see, hear, smell, taste, and vocalize.
- Reflexes such as grasping and sucking are established by the seventh month.
- The foetus reaches the zone of viability around 26 weeks, with a chance of survival if born prematurely.
- By the ninth month, the foetus settles into a head-down position in readiness for birth as movements inside the uterus become restricted.