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Pregnancy is the process by which a mammalian female carries a live offspring from conception until it develops to the point where the offspring is capable of living outside the womb. It starts with conception, the process of fertilization to form a zygote, and ends in childbirth, miscarriage, or abortion.In humans, pregnancy takes approximately 40 weeks between the time of the last menstrual cycle and delivery (38 weeks from fertilization). It is divided into three trimesters. The first trimester carries the highest risk of miscarriage, the unintentional abortion of a fetus. It is often a result of defects in the fetus, its parent, or damage caused after conception.
Euphemisms for pregnancy include 'expecting', 'bun in the oven', 'in the family way', 'knocked up' and 'eating for two.' (The term 'knocked up' is generally regarded as profane.)
1 Fertilization
The first step of pregnancy usually begins with sexual intercourse where male gametes or sperm are deposited into the vagina. The semen produced by the male contains not only sperm cells but also sugars, proteins and other substances to help keep the sperm viable. Human sperm generally survive for about 48 hours in the female body. Sperm have a long flagellum, which they use to swim; they are the only human cells with this property. These cells are haploidHaploid cells have only one copy of each chromosome. Most fungi, and a few algae exist as haploid organisms. Plants and other algae switch between a haploid and a diploid or polyploid state, with one of the stages emphasized over the other. This is called, having divided by meiosisMeiosis is a cellular process that forms the basis for sexual reproduction, together with syngamy. It is a form of nuclear division by which a diploid parent produces four haploid daughter cells. This includes two stages of nuclear division (meiosis I and from germ cells in the testes and possessing only one half of the chromosomes of ordinary body cells. Typically, between 100 million and 300 million sperm are released in one ejaculation.
Ova, or oocytes, are the haploid female egg cells, and their role is to fuse with one sperm cell to form a fertilized zygote which will then grow in the uterus to form a developing fetusA fetus (alternatively foetus is an embryo in later stages of development, from the third month of pregnancy until birth in humans. Fetus literally means 'young one'. Fetal growth There is much natural variation in the growth of the fetus. Approximately 4. These cells are produced by meiosis in the ovaries and stay in a state of suspended animation until activated by hormonal changes in the woman's menstrual cycle. Typically, only one ovum is released during each menstrual cycle.
At ovulation, the fimbriae at the end of the fallopian tube move over the ovary to catch the released ovum. If fertilization takes place, the sperm usually meet the ovum in the fallopian tube, requiring the sperm cells to swim from the upper vagina through the cervix and across the length of the uterus before reaching the fallopian tube—a considerable distance compared to the size of the sperm cell.
Once there, the successful sperm swim towards the ovum and each attempts to fertilize it. Each sperm cell contains a small pouch of enzymes that it uses to break through the outer layer of the ovum in order to fuse with it. This can take up to twenty minutes. Once the ovum fuses with a single sperm cell, its cell membrane changes, preventing fusion with other sperm. The fusion of the ovum's and sperm's nuclei to form a diploid cell completes the first stage of pregnancy.
Alternative methods of fertilization, including artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, are sometimes used in cases of infertility and by single women and lesbian couples.
