Pregnancies And Development Of A Fetus

A baby’s genes are determined at conception. If something is faulty at this stage, this can have a huge impact on the child’s development. This may be physical or intellectual. If a mother takes drugs or smokes when pregnant, there is an increased chance of delivering an underweight baby at birth. It can also lead to cognitive problems for the child as they get older.

Substance abuse during pregnancy can have a negative force on the health and wellness of not only the fetus, but that of the mother. The harmful effects of medications, alcohol and illegal drugs on an unborn child can be devastating and can have significant consequences to its use. Sometimes the effects can be faced and treated, and other times the outcome is a lifelong challenge. During the prenatal period, it is important that new mothers are informed of the different types of abuse, how they may affect the fetus, and the adverse conditions their child may be faced with before and after birth.

Substance abuse has been a worldwide problem at all levels of society since the beginning of time. Attention has been made toward the use of legal and illegal substance by pregnant women over the past several decades. Almost all drugs are known to cross the placenta and have some effect on the fetus. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (2013) the first studies of the effect of substances consumed by a pregnant women to the developing fetus were identified in the 1960’s of prenatal tobacco use. These studies opened the door to further research and studies. The effects of Alcohol and opiate use have been studied since the 1970’s (Jones, Smith, 1973) and the effects of a variety of other drugs have been studied since 1979 and early 1980’s (Flinnegan, 1979).

In the United States, there has been a growing concern for the number of newborn children that have been exposed to drugs while in utero. The defenseless fetus is subject to any and all substances that the mother ingests, injects, or inhales into her body. Significantly decreased gestational ages as well as low birth weight have been linked to infants that have been born to mothers who are engaging in substance abuse. Marijuana, cocaine, cigarettes, methamphetamine, heroin, and alcohol are some of the more widely abused substances among pregnant mothers (Bailey, McCook, Hodge, & McGrady, 2012).

Approximately 740,000 women per year use at least one illegal substance during their pregnancy (“Birth Defect Statistics”). These substances can range from marijuana to cocaine. Premature birth is defined as the birth of a child on or before thirty-seven weeks of pregnancy. There are around 500,000 premature births per year (“Preterm Birth”). It is hard to directly correlate premature birth solely to drug use, since most women that use illicit drugs during their pregnancy also smoke and drink. However, a recent study shows that around sixteen percent of women that only use drugs during pregnancy have given birth to a premature infant, and these are only the women that admitted to using these drugs (“Causes and Risk Factors”). Negative effects

Being pregnant and having a baby requires you to be so careful about your health, so that your baby will be healthy and happy. When you are pregnant you can’t drink, smoke, do legal or illegal drugs and you have to exercise, eat well, take supplements, and take care of your body. You have to be so careful when you are pregnant, you are growing another person. Their lives and well being are your responsibility. There are some women out there that aren’t taking proper care of their unborn babies, who are using drugs when they are pregnant. In 2005 in the US, The National Survey of Drug Use and Health showed that over 3000 babies were found had high risk for drug misuse and almost 4% of pregnant women in the US use illicit drugs during pregnancy.

Due to modern medicine, there are many ways that pregnant women can now see how their fetus is growing inside them. The woman’s egg travels down the fallopian tube entering the uterus. It is fertilized by the sperm and its home for the next nine months. There is a long process before the baby arrives into the mother's arms. This is the beginning of conception and the development of the baby.

Substance abuse during pregnancy can range in variation from prescription drugs to non-prescription drugs to even alcohol. Substance abuse is more common during pregnancy than most people realize. This type of abuse is more common amongst pregnant women. Most the time substance abuse is hard to find in women. Pregnant women who go through substance abuse usually don’t seek any medical help. If an expecting mother uses any kind of drug it can result in many complications. Some complications that are a result of substance abuse include: stillbirths, miscarriages, premature labor and even complications that can affect the child later on in life. Pregnant women who also give birth to children addicted to drugs can face a wide variety of

by creating mechanical vibrations, heat, and air bubbles in the fluids of the baby 's body. When

There are a number of environmental influences that have the potential of affecting the development of the baby during the prenatal period. These are called teratogens. As far as how much of an effect the teratogens has, depends on the factors of “dose, heredity, other negative influences and age” (Berk 66). The main teratogens are prescription/non-prescription drugs, illegal drugs, tobacco, environmental pollution, and infectious diseases. Since the early 1940’s the developmental effects of prescription/nonprescription drugs such as ihalidomide and diethylstilbestrol have been well documented. Some of the effects were “gross deformities of limbs and genital abnormalities/malformation of the genitals” (66). Babies of users doing illegal drugs

Illicit drugs such as cocaine, opioids, benzodiazepines, PCP and LSD, and methamphetamines can have harmful and devastating effects on a newborn. If a mom is using these drugs it can cause her to go into preterm labor, have a miscarriage, or have a stillborn birth. Using these drugs will/can cause a newborn to have a low birth weight, respiratory issues, and withdrawal symptoms depending on the amount and frequency of the using the drugs (American Pregnancy Association, 2017). Not every state in the

Alcohol, Cigarettes, and other illegal drugs are common to cause serious risks to a developing baby. Staying away from any narcotic is the key to having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. In addition, if women consider having a healthy baby, she should stop using these toxic substances ideally before the pregnancy, because the smallest portion of this substance could cause complications. If women do not know, she is pregnant while on alcohol or other narcotics it is important she stop immediately. Alcohol has many effects on a healthy pregnancy, and it is important women never use alcohol or other teratogens while pregnant.

Different substances might do have different effects on the fetus and carry varied risk, but virtually all commonly used recreational drugs cross the placenta, where they are exposed to a developing fetus. Drugs may harm a developing fetus via multiple

When a pregnant woman uses drugs she affects the fetus. Scientist have studied facts about the babies born from marijuana users were shorter, weighed less, and had smaller head sizes than those born from the mothers who did not use the drug. When a baby is smaller than its average size the health of the baby has more of a risk to it than an average sized baby. Drug abuse has negative effects on the fetus because they are transferred from the placenta to the fetus which harms the birth of the baby. If a pregnant woman is taking in drugs she is making it harder for the unborn to breath and most of the drugs can cause a miscarriage. If the mother is smoking heroine while having a child, the child can become immune to that drug and become dependant on it. PCP and LSD can lead to various problems for the child such as, low birth weight, poor muscle control, brain damage, and withdrawal syndrome if they are used frequently.

There are various ways with which a fetus can present at birth. These include cephalic, breech, face and brow presentation. Normally, at term, the fetus assumes a longitudinal lie with its head as the presenting part. This is the normal cephalic presentation. A breech presentation is when the fetal bottom is the presenting part. With advancing gestational age, the incidence of breech presentation decreases. It constitutes 25% of births before 28 weeks, 7% of births at 32 weeks and only 3% persists as breech at term deliveries. [1] Currently, external cephalic version (ECV) is the treatment of choice for pregnant women with early detected breech pregnancies. In the event of a successful ECV, the pregnant woman can have a normal