The Anatomy of Pregnancy and the Fetus

So what's going on in there anyway? As a pregnant woman or the partner of one, you may be curious about the anatomy of a pregnancy - the fetus, and the special organs that keep it happy and healthy and connected to mom. Knowing what your fetus looks like and understanding how she is developing may even help you feel closer to your growing baby.

To get started on baby's growth and development inside the womb, you may want to start at the top - the fetal brain and skull. Besides being such in important organ, the head is also the first part of baby that will come out in a normal vaginal birth. Of course fetal position important to birth as well, since this can have a large impact on the type of delivery used in labor.

But how does the baby survive while still in the womb? Mainly because of special organs that only exist during pregnancy - those that connect mom and baby and surround the baby in the uterus - the umbilical cord, the placenta, and the amniotic fluid. Because of these organs and the way the baby survives during pregnancy, fetal circulation is actually different before and after birth!

And how can we tell how the baby is doing during the pregnancy? By using the fetus's biophysical profile, in part determined by the amniotic fluid index.

Finally, it can also be interesting to learn about fetal development and vestigial organs - that is, how we become a boy or a girl and also why certain organs develop even though they are never used. And have you ever really contemplated the navel?