CHAPTER 4: BIRTH AND PHYSICAL
DEVELOPMENT DURING THE FIRST THREE
YEARS
Labor – an apt term for the process of giving birth
Parturition – the act or process of giving birth, and it
typically begins about 2 weeks before delivery.
Natural Childbirth – method of childbirth that seeks
to prevent pain by eliminating the mother’s fear
through education about the physiology of
reproduction and training in breathing and relaxation
during delivery.
Prepared childbirth- method of childbirth that uses
instruction, breathing exercises, and social support to
induce controlled physical responses to uterine
contractions and reduce fear and pain.
Pudendal block – local vaginal anesthesia
Stages of childbirth
Stage 1: Dilation of the Cervix - The first stage,
dilation of the cervix, is the longest, typically lasting 12
to 14 hours for a woman having her first child. In
subsequent births, the first stage tends to be shorter.
During this stage, regular and increasingly frequent
uterine contractions—15 to 20 minutes apart at first—
cause the cervix to shorten and dilate, or widen, in
preparation for delivery. Toward the end of the first
stage, contractions occur every 2 to 5 minutes. This
stage lasts until the cervix is fully open (10
centimeters, or about 4 inches) so the baby can
descend into the birth canal.
Stage 2: Descent and Emergence of the Baby The second stage, descent and emergence of the
baby, typically lasts up to an hour or two. It begins
when the baby’s head begins to move through the
cervix into the vaginal canal, and it ends when the
baby emerges completely from the mother’s body. At
the end of this stage, the baby is born but is still
attached to the placenta in the mother’s body by the
umbilical cord, which must be cut and clamped.
Stage 3: Expulsion of the Placenta - The third
stage, expulsion of the placenta, lasts between 10
minutes and 1 hour. During this stage, the placenta
and the remainder of the umbilical cord are expelled
from the mother.
Analgesic (painkiller) – which reduces the
perception of pain by depressing the activity of the
central nervous system.
Epidural – which can be injected into a space in the
spinal cord between the vertebrae in the lumbar
(lower) region.
Doula – an experienced mentor, coach, and helper
who can furnish emotional support and information
and can stay at a woman’s bedside throughout labor.
Neonatal period- first 4 weeks of life. A time of
transition from the uterus, where a fetus is supported
entirely by the mother, to an independent existence.
Fontanels- area on an infants head where bones of
the skull do not meet. It is covered by a tough
membrane that allows for flexibility in shape which
eases the passage of the neonate through the vaginal
canal.
Neonate- newborn baby, up to 4 weeks old.
Lanugo – a fuzzy prenatal hair, has not yet fallen off.
Vernix Caseosa – (cheesy varnish) an oily protection
against infection that dries within the first few days.
Anoxia- if a neonate does not begin breathing within
about 5 mins, the baby may suffer permanent brain
injury. A lack of oxygen.
Electronic Fetal Monitoring – can be used to track
the fetus’s heartbeat during labor and delivery and to
indicate how the fetal heart is responding to the stress
of uterine contractions.
Hypoxia- a reduced oxygen supply
Caesarean Delivery – can be used surgically to
remove the baby from the uterus through an incision
in the mother’s abdomen.
Neonatal jaundice- condition in many newborn
babies caused by immaturity of the liver and
evidenced by yellowish appearance; can cause brain
damage if not treated promptly.
Vaginal Delivery – also stimulates the release of
oxytocin, a hormone involved in uterine contractions
that stimulates maternal behavior in animals.
Meconium- a tringy, greenish-black waste matter
formed in the fetal intestinal tract.
Apgar Scale – standard measurement of a newborn’s
condition; it assesses appearance, pulse, grimace,
activity and respiration.
Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale
(NBAS) – neurological and behavioral test to measure
neonate’s responses to the environment.
State of Arousal – an infant’s physiological and
behavioral status at a given moment in the periodic
daily cycle of wakefulness, sleep, and activity.
Low-birth-weight babies- Weight of less than 5½
pounds (2,500 grams) at birth because of prematurity
or being small-for-date.
Preterm (premature) infants- Infants born before
completing the 37th week of gestation.
Small-for-date (small-for-gestational- age) infantsInfants whose birth weight is less than that of 90
percent of babies of the same gestational age, as a of
slow fetal growth.
Kangaroo care- an intervention involving extended
skin-to-skin contact, has been theorized to help
preemies-and full-term infants- make the adjustment
from fetal life to the jumble of sensory stimuli in the
outside world.
Postmature- A fetus not yet born as of 2 weeks after
the due date or 42 weeks after the mother's last
menstrual period. Babies tend to be long and thin
because they have kept growing in the womb but
have had an insufficient blood supply toward the end
of gestation.
Stillbirth- the sudden death of a fetus at or after the
20th week of gestation.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) –
sometimes called crib death, is the sudden death of
an infant under age 1 in which the cause of death
remains unexplained after a thorough investigation
that includes an autopsy.
Cephalocaudal principle- growth occurs from the top
down. Because the brain grows rapidly before birth, a
newborn baby's head is disproportionately large. The
head becomes proportionately smaller as the child
grows in height and the lower parts of the body
develop.
Proximodistal principle- (inner to outer), growth and
motor development from the center of the body
outward. In the womb, the head and trunk develop
before the arms and legs, then the hands and feet,
and then the fingers and toes. During infancy and
early childhood, the limbs continue to grow faster than
the hands and feet. Babies learn to use the parts of
their bodies closest to the center of their body before
they learn to use the outermost parts.
Central Nervous System – the brain and spinal cord.
Lateralization- tendency of each of the brain’s
hemispheres to have specialized functions.
Cerebellum – the part of the brain that maintains
balance and moor coordination and grows fastest
during the 1st yr of life.
Cerebrum- the largest part of the brain divided into
right and left halves.
The left hemisphere is mainly concerned with
language and logical thinking, the right hemisphere
with visual and spatial functions such as map reading
and drawing.
Corpus Callosum – which allows them to share
information and coordinate commands.
Occipital lobe- is the smallest of the four lobes and
is primarily concerned with visual processing.
Parietal lobe- is involved with integrating sensory
information from the body. It helps us move our
bodies through space and manipulate objects in our
world.
Temporal lobe- helps us interpret smells and sounds
and is involved in memory.
Frontal lobe- the newest region of the brain, are
involved with a variety of higher-order processes,
such as goal setting, inhibition, reasoning, planning,
and problem solving.
Cerebral cortex- (the outer surface of the cerebrum)
that govern vision, hear- ing, and other sensory
information
Neurons- send and receive information.
Glial Cells- nourish and protect the neurons
Axon and Dendrites- narrow, branching, fiberlike
extensions.
Axons- send signals to other neurons
Dendrites- receive incoming messages from them
Synapses- tiny gaps, which are bridged with the help
of chemicals called neurotransmitters that are
released by the neurons.
Integration – neurons that control various groups of
muscles coordinate their activities.
Differentiation – each neuron takes on a specific,
specialized structure and function.
Cell death – a way to calibrate the developing brain
to the local environment and help it work more
efficiently.
Myelination – enables signals to travel faster and
more smoothly.
Reflex behaviors – automatic, involuntary, innate
responses to stimulation. Controlled by the lower
brain centers that govern other involuntary processes
such as breathing and heart rate.
Primitive reflexes- such as sucking, rooting for the
nipple
Moro reflex- (a response to being startled or
beginning to fall), are related to instinctive needs for
survival and protection or may support the early
connection to the caregiver.
Grasping Reflex – have tight grasp any object placed
in their palm
Postural reflex – reactions to changes in position or
balance
Locomotor reflexes- such as the walking and
swimming reflexes, resemble voluntary movements
that do not appear until months after the reflexes have
disappeared.
Plasticity – may be an evolutionary mechanism to
enable adaptation to environmental change.
Touch- is the first sense to develop. It is the most
mature sensory system.
Vision- is the least developed sense at birth
Systems of action – increasingly complex
combinations of motor skills, which permit a wider or
more precise range of movement and more control of
the environment
Denver developmental screening test – screening
test given to children 1 month to 6 yrs old to
determine whether they are developing normally.
Gross motor skills- physical skills that involve the
large muscles.
Fine motor skills – physical skills that involve the
small muscles and eye-hand coordination.
Pincer grasp – which thumb and index finger meet at
the tips to form a circle.
Social Referencing – they learn to look to caregivers
for clues as to whether a situation is secure or
frightening.
Visual guidance – use of the eyes to guide
movements of the hands or other parts of the body.
Depth perception - the ability to perceive objects
and surfaces in three dimensions
Haptic perception – involves the ability to acquire
information by handling objects rather than just
looking at them.
Visual cliff – a steep drop down to the floor.
Apparatus designed to give an illusion of depth and
used to assess depth perception in infants.
Ecological Theory of perception – theory developed
by Eleanor and James Gibson, which describes
developing motor and perceptual abilities as
interdependent parts of a functional system that
guides behavior in varying contexts.
Dynamic systems theory – argued that “behavior
merges in the moment from the self-organization of
multiple components”