Week 4-8, Fetal Period

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 7

1|Page

Week 4-8
Fourth Week
• Major changes in body form occur during the fourth week.
• At the beginning, the embryo is almost straight.
• In the fourth week the somites produce obvious elevations and the neural tube is
open at the rostral and caudal neuropores .
• By 24 days, the pharyngeal arches have appeared .
• The embryo is now slightly curved because of the head and tail folds.
• The early heart produces a large ventral prominence and pumps blood.
• The rostral neuropore is closing at 24 days .
• At 26 days, the forebrain produces a prominent elevation of the head and the long,
curved caudal eminence (tail-like structure) is present .
• At 26 days, the otic pits (primordia of internal ears) are also visible.
• At 28 days, upper limb buds are recognizable as small swellings on the ventrolateral
body walls .
• Ectodermal thickenings called lens placodes, indicating the future lenses of the eyes,
are visible on the sides of the head.
• The fourth pair of pharyngeal arches and the lower limb buds are visible by the end
of the fourth week .
• By the end of the fourth week, the caudal neuropore is usually closed.
• Rudiments of many organ systems, especially the cardiovascular system, are
established

2|Page
Fifth week
• Changes in body form are minor during the fifth week compared with those that occurred during the fourth
week.
• Growth of the head exceeds that of other regions, which is caused mainly by the rapid development of
the brain and facial prominences.
• The face soon contacts the heart prominence.
• The mesonephric ridges indicate the site of the mesonephric kidneys, which are
the primordia of the permanent kidneys.

Sixth Week
• Embryos in the sixth week show spontaneous movements, such as twitching of
the trunk and limbs.
• Embryos at this stage show reflex responses to touch.
• The primordia of the digits (fingers)—the digital rays—begin to develop in the
hand plates .
• Development of the lower limbs occurs 4 to 5 days later than that of the upper
limbs
• Several small swellings— auricular hillocks —develop and contribute to the
formation of the auricle of the external ear.
• The eyes are now obvious largely because retinal pigment has formed.
• The head is much larger relative to the trunk and is bent over the large heart
prominence.
• This head position results from bending in the cervical (neck) region.
• The trunk then begins to straighten.
• During the sixth week, the intestines enter the extraembryonic coelom in the proximal part of the
umbilical cord.
• This umbilical herniation is a normal event in the embryo, occurring because the abdominal cavity is too
small at this stage to accommodate the rapidly growing intestines .

3|Page
Seventh Week
• The limbs undergo remarkable change during the seventh week.
• Notches appear between the digital rays in the hand plates, partially separating the future digits.
• Communication between the primordial gut and the umbilical vesicle is now reduced to a relatively slender
duct, the omphaloenteric duct.

Eighth Week
• At the beginning of this final week of the embryonic period, the digits of the hand are separated.
• Notches are clearly visible between the digital rays of the feet.
• The scalp vascular plexus has appeared and forms a characteristic band around the head.
• At the end of the fetal period, the digits have lengthened and are separated.
• Coordinated limb movements first occur during this week.
• Primary ossification begins in the femur.
• All evidence of the tail-like caudal eminence has disappeared by the end of the eighth week.
• The hands and feet each approach each other ventrally.
• At the end of the eighth week, the embryo has visually distinct human characteristics.
• But, the head is still disproportionately large, constituting almost half of the embryo .
• The neck region appears and the eyelids are closing.
• By the end of the eighth week, the eyelids begin to unite by epithelial fusion.
• The intestines are still in the proximal portion of the umbilical cord .
• The auricles of the external ears begin to take their final shape but are still low-set on the head
• Although sex differences exist in the appearance of the external genitalia, they are not distinctive enough
to permit accurate sex identification

4|Page
Nine to Twelve Weeks
• At the beginning of the ninth week, the head constitutes half of the CRL of the fetus.
• Subsequently, growth in body length accelerates rapidly so that, by the end of 12
weeks, the CRL has almost doubled.
• At 9 weeks, the face is broad, the eyes are widely separated, the ears are low set, and
the eyelids are fused.
• Early in the ninth week, the legs are short and the thighs are relatively small.
• By the end of 12 weeks, the upper limbs have almost reached their final relative
lengths, but the lower limbs are still slightly shorter than their final relative
length.
• The external genitalia of males and females are not fully developed until the end of
the 12th week.
• Intestinal coils are clearly visible in the proximal end of the umbilical cord until
the middle of the 10th week.
• By the 11th week, the intestines have returned to the abdomen.
• Urine formation begins between the 9th and 12th weeks, and urine is discharged
through the urethra into the amniotic fluid.
• The fetus reabsorbs some of this fluid after swallowing it.
• Fetal waste products in the blood are transferred to the maternal circulation by
passing across the placental membrane.

Thirteen to Sixteen Weeks


• Growth is very rapid during this period .
• By 16 weeks, the head is relatively small compared with that of the 12-week
fetus, and the lower limbs have lengthened.
• Limb movements, which first occur at the end of the embryonic period, become
coordinated by the 14th week, but they are too slight to be felt by the mother.
• But, these movements are visible during ultrasonographic examinations.
• By the beginning of the 16th week, the developing bones are clearly visible on
ultrasound images.
• Slow eye movements occur at 14 weeks.
• Scalp hair patterning is also determined during this period.
• By 16 weeks, the ovaries are differentiated and contain primordial ovarian
follicles that have oogonia (primordial germ cells).
• The eyes face anteriorly rather than anterolaterally.

5|Page
Seventeen to Twenty Weeks
• Growth slows down during this period, but the fetus still increases its CRL
by approximately 50 mm.
• Fetal movements— quickening —are commonly felt by the mother.
• The skin is now covered with a greasy material—vernix caseosa
• vernix caseosa consists of dead epidermal cells and a fatty secretion from the
fetal sebaceous glands.
• The vernix caseosa protects the delicate fetal skin from abrasions, chapping,
and hardening that could result from exposure to the amniotic fluid.
• Fetuses are usually completely covered with fine, downy hair—lanugo —that
helps to hold the vernix on the skin.
• Eyebrows and head hair are also visible.
• Brown fat forms during weeks 17 through 20 and is the site of heat
production, particularly in the neonate.
• This specialized adipose tissue, found chiefly at the neck, posterior to the
sternum, produces heat by oxidizing fatty acids.
• By 18 weeks, the fetal uterus is formed and canalization of the vagina has
begun.
• By 20 weeks, the testes have begun to descend, but they are still located on the posterior abdominal wall

Twenty-One to Twenty-Five Weeks


• Essential weight gain occurs during this period.
• The skin is usually wrinkled and more translucent.
• The skin is pink to red because blood is visible in the capillaries.
• At 21 weeks, rapid eye movements begin, and blink-startle responses have been reported at 22 to 23
weeks.
• Fingernails are present by 24 weeks.
• Also by 24 weeks, the secretory epithelial cells (type II pneumocytes) in the interalveolar walls of the
lung have begun to secrete surfactant, a surface-active lipid that maintains the patency of the developing
alveoli of the lungs.
• Although a 22- to 25-week fetus born prematurely may survive initially if given intensive care support.
• however, the fetus may die because its respiratory system is still immature.

6|Page
Thirty to Thirty-Eight Weeks
• The pupillary light reflex of the eyes can be elicited at 30 weeks.
• By the end of this period, the skin is pink and smooth and the upper and lower limbs have a chubby
appearance.
• Fetuses born at 32 weeks usually survive.
• Fetuses at 35 weeks have a firm grasp and exhibit a spontaneous orientation to light.
• As term approaches (37–38 weeks), the nervous system is sufficiently mature to carry out some
integrative functions.
• Most fetuses during this “finishing period” are plump.
• At 36 weeks, the circumferences of the head and abdomen are approximately equal.
• Growth slows as the time of birth approaches .
• Most fetuses weigh about 3400 g at term.
• A fetus adds approximately 14 g of fat daily during the last weeks of gestation.
• The chest is prominent, and the breasts protrude slightly in both sexes.

Expected Date of Delivery


• The expected date of delivery of a fetus is 266 days, or 38 weeks, after fertilization (i.e., 280 days or 40
weeks after the LNMP) .
• Approximately 12% of babies are born 1 to 2 weeks after the expected time of birth
❖ Estimation the expected date can be calculated by following the steps
❖ First, determine the first day of last menstrual period.
❖ Next, count back 3 months from that date.
❖ Lastly, add 1 year and 7 days to that date.
❖ For example The last menstrual period began on September 9, 2010. Counting back 3 months would be June
9, 2010. Adding 1 year and 7 days would bring you to June 16, 2011, which is the expected day of delivery.
‫ختام مادة االناتومي‬

7|Page

You might also like