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MODULE OBJECTIVE:What factors influence prenatal development?

Chapter 9- Life Span Development I

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Test Your Knowledge!True or False?

Most babies are born healthy and most hazards

can be avoided.

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Test Your Knowledge!True or False?

Most babies are born healthy and most hazards

can be avoided.

True!

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There are very few prenatal factors that can

harm a developing person.

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There are very few prenatal factors that can

harm a developing person.

False!

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Research has proven that drinking alcohol

(in any amount) during pregnancy is

safe

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Research has proven that drinking alcohol

(in any amount) during pregnancy is

safe

False!

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Is the prenatal environment that important??

‐ YES! There are many factors that can negatively impact the developing person.

‐ Teratogens are substances that can lead to birth defects or even death during the prenatal period.

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Think on your own…

What are some factors that could influence

prenatal development?

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Teratogens‐ Drugs (street or over the counter)‐ Alcohol ‐ Cigarettes ‐ Disease‐ Poor nutrition‐ Stressors‐ Chemicals

‐ Almost anything can impact a developing fetus

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But my Mom smoked when she was pregnant with me and I’m fine!

‐ Students often ask why the effects of different teratogens have such different effects on an individual.

Think on your own…Why do we see such different

effects of teratogens?

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It’s all about timing…‐ The effect of a teratogen is very personal

because the impact depends on the timing of exposure.

‐ Critical period is the time when a particular organ or body part is the most susceptible to damage

‐ Different teratogens can cause damage at different times during development and each body structure has its own critical period

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Notice the length of the highly critical period for the CNS

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Some Environmental Hazards

(to a Fetus or Newborn)Drugs:‐ Alcohol‐ Birth Control Pills‐ Caffeine‐ Cocaine‐ Heroin‐ Marijuana‐ Methadone‐ Nicotine

Environmental Pollutants‐ Lead‐ Mercury‐ PCBs

Maternal Diseases‐ AIDS‐ Chicken Pox‐ Chlamydia‐ Cytomegalovirus

(CMV)‐ Gonorrhea‐ Genital Herpes‐ Influenza‐ Mumps‐ Rubella (German

Measles)‐ Syphilis‐ Toxoplasmosis

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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

‐ This syndrome is caused by a mother drinking excessive amounts of alcohol during pregnancy.

‐Heavy drinking during the second trimester seems to cause more features of FAS, particularly in weeks 10-20.

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What does FAS look like?

Think on your own…

Do these child have any physical similarities?

Look at their faces, do they look alike in any way?

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What did you see?

‐ Facial features tend to be flattened, ears are often low-set and people with FAS have a “Down syndrome-like” appearance

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Facial abnormalities are an obvious indicator of FAS

‐ Small head circumference

‐ Small, widely-spaced eyes

‐ Prolongation of the fold of the upper eyelid

‐ A short, upturned nose

‐ Flat mid-face, lowered nasal bridge

‐ Thin upper lip

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Approximately 10,000 infants are born each year with physical or cognitive disabilities associated

with maternal drinking (Jacobson, 1997).

‐ Every 1 in 750 births!

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Think on your own…

How does the presence of alcohol in the fetuses

bloodstream effect that developing brain?

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Normal brain of

6-week-old baby

The presence of alcohol in the fetus’s bloodstream triggers widespread cell

death in the fetal brain. Brain of 6-week-

old baby with FAS

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What’s Next?

‐ How do we develop emotional attachments?