Pregnancy is the time period during which singular or multiple offspring develop inside the female's body.
Pregnancy is different for each animal, this piece will deal with pregnancy within a human female.
It is the phenomena that takes place inside a female's womb when a male's sperm combines with the egg cell of a woman. Pregnancy can either occur from sexual intercourse between a man and a woman, artificial insemination, or even assisted reproductive technology.
Pregnancy is usually divided into three trimesters over the duration of approximately 9 months, extending from the last menstrual period of a woman to childbirth.
The combining of the male and female gamete is known as fertilization, and in the case of humans, usually take place in the fallopian tube of the woman. The fertilized egg, or zygote then takes a week to move into the uterus an implant itself onto the walls. Towards the end of the first 10 weeks, the fetus starts establishing basic body systems and the outlines of the body and basic features, as such as eyes, fingers and mouth, start to form, including the placenta and the umbilical cord. The umbilical cord connects the fetus to the placenta. The placenta is the structure that connects the embryo to the uterine wall, and is in charge of the nutrient and oxygen uptake, as well as waste discharge and gas change for the developing fetus. For the first 8weeks of development and growth, the offspring is referred to as an embryo, and then later referred to as a fetus till its delivery into the human world.
External symptoms of pregnancies include nausea, morning sickness, excessive fatigue, frequent urination, cravings for particular foods, back pain, missed menstrual periods. Pregnancy is confirmed through pregnancy tests available in drug stores.
Not all pregnancies result in a birth though. Some foetuses get naturally rejected by the body, which is called a miscarriage which is the expelling of the developing fetus from inside the womb due to its inability to survive independently. The risk of miscarriage is highest during the first 8-10 weeks after conception.
Pregnant women are told to take extra care of their bodies while a human life is developing inside them. They take extra vitamins, irons and take care to stay away from caffeine, alcohol and drugs.
Pregnancies end with labour; uterine contractions which are generally very painful. Most mothers opt for pain-free labour during childbirth.