TOPICS COVERED:-
(1)HOW ARE BABIES BORN?
(2)HOW DOES FERTILIZATION OCCUR?
(3)WHAT HAPPENS TO THE FERTILZED EGGS CELL?
(4)WHAT DETERMINES WHETHER A BABY IS A BOY OR A GIRL?
(5)HOW DOES THE BABY BREATHE IN THE UTERUS?
(6)WHY ARE SOME BABIES DISABLED AT BIRTH?
How are babies born?
When a man and a woman have sex, the erect penis of the male is inserted into the vagina of the female. The sperm cells of the male are ejaculated into the vagina of the female. If an egg cell has been released in the ovary at that time, it may get fertilized by the sperm and the woman may become pregnant. The baby develops in the woman's uterus for about 40 weeks, till it is developed enough to be born. Usually, babies are born healthy, but sometimes they may be born with a disability.
How does fertilization occur?
After a man and a woman have had sex, about 300 million sperm cells are present in the woman's vagina. The sperms swim forward with the help of their tail with a common aim: to fertilize the egg cell. The egg cell ripens in the ovary of a woman only once a month. Certain hormones then trigger 'ovulation', in which the egg cell is released from the ovary in the fallopian tube. Fertilization occurs if the egg cell meets a sperm. Doctors assume that after ovulation, an egg cell can be fertilized for a maximum of 12-24 hours. A single cell is enough to fertilize the egg cell.
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What happens to the fertilized egg cell?
A new life can start with the fusion of the sperm and the egg, which contain the genetic information of the father and the mother in equal parts. On the way through the fallopian tube, the egg cell divides several times. It finally gets loaded in the mucous membrane of the uterus, a special hollow muscle. This has a good blood supply and provides the egg cell with nutrients. After it is fixed in the uterus, the egg cell is called an embryo and development starts immediately.
What determines whether a baby is a boy or a girl?
The sex of the baby is determined by the chromosomes. Usually, all of us have 23 pairs of chromosomes. They determine how our body looks like and how it works. They are also the reason we resemble our parents. The 23rd pair of chromosome is different in case of males and females. In a woman, these are two X chromosomes, in a man it is one X and one Y chromosome. The egg cell has an X chromosome, the sperm could have either a X or a Y chromosome. If a sperm with a 'Y' chromosome fertilizes the egg, then the chromosome combination for the baby would be XY: a boy. If an 'X' sperm fertilizes the egg cell, the result is XX: a girl. It is clear, therefore, that the sex of the baby is determined by the father.
How does the baby breathe in the uterus?
A baby does not need to breathe in the uterus. Everything that it needs for its growth is provided to it by its supply line: the umbilical cord. This cord connects the blood circulation of the child with that of the mother. The foetus, as the unborn child is called, gets nutrients and oxygen through the umbilical cord. The waste products of the foetus are thrown out into the blood circulation of the mother and are excreted by the mother. After the birth of the baby, the umbilical cord is no longer required and is cut off.
Why are some babies disabled at birth?
The causes of disabilities are many and cannot always be explained. We do know that a lack of oxygen at birth can cause damages to the brain. If the mother smokes or takes drugs during pregnancy, it can have serious consequences because the drug reaches the blood circulation of the child via the umbilical cord. Sometimes, there may be genetic changes which may cause disabilities. For instance, a change in the 21st chromosome, causes down syndrome in the child. It is important to ensure that people with disabilities are not discriminated against in our society.
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