PS220 Unit 2 Discussion Prenatal Development and the Newborn
Unit 2 Discussion
Topic: Prenatal Development and the Newborn
During the prenatal period, amazing sequences of events take place between conception and birth. Although fetal development occurs in a highly protected environment, many factors can affect prenatal development. For example, teratogens affect prenatal development differently according to the specific prenatal period during which the teratogen is ingested. The focus of this Discussion is on the effects some of these factors have on the prenatal period and on the birth process, including some issues associated with low-birth-weight babies. Once born, newborn infants have a remarkable set of capacities that are crucial for survival and for evoking adult attention and care (Berk, 2021) and these capacities will also be focused on in this Discussion.
Please respond to the following:
- Identify one specific teratogen and describe the effect that specific teratogen may have during prenatal development. Why is it difficult to determine the prenatal effects of many environmental agents, such as drugs and pollution?
- Researchers often divide low-birth-weight babies into two groups: preterm and small-for-date. Describe the characteristics and some issues associated with preterm infants. Describe the characteristics and some issues associated with small-for-date infants.
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- Are newborns more competent than you thought they were before you read Chapter 4 in your textbook? Which of their capacities surprised you most?
PS220 Unit 2 Discussion Prenatal Development and the Newborn Answer
Prescription medications become teratogens when a woman is pregnant. Antidepressants and other mood-stabilizing medications have molecules that will pass through the placental barrier and enter into the fetus bloodstream causing a variety of possible pregnancy complications. For instance, 30 percent of babies born to mothers taking an SSRI experience neonatal adaptation syndrome causing increased irritability, respiratory distress, and jitteriness (Berk, 2021). Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the effects of environmental agents as there may be multiple affecting the fetus at one time such as an unknowing pregnant mother who continues taking her SSRI, ibuprofen for her headaches and lives near a nuclear power plant…………
