All human life is divided into certain periods, each of which has its own characteristics. One of the important segments of life is the perinatal period. What time frame does it fit into, and what physiological and psychological changes does it suggest? Learn from this article.
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What is the perinatal period?
Perinatal is a period starting from 22 weeks of pregnancy. In addition, it includes the length of time immediately preceding the birth, as well as the delivery process itself and the period immediately following it.
The birth process itself is divided into three stages: prenatal contractions, delivery, retrieval. All these stages, as well as the first week after a person is born, are called the perinatal period.
Note. Many people often confuse the concepts of prenatal and perinatal, mistakenly believing that these concepts are identical. Unlike the perinatal period, which covers only part of the intrauterine development of the fetus and the first day of life of newborns, prenatal development begins from the moment of conception and ends after the birth of the baby.
Dates and Duration
This period of time is also called pericarp. The period of the perinatal period begins with a full 22 weeks of pregnancy and ends a week later (168 hours) after the birth of the baby.
In this case, the longest period of the perinatal period is noted in cases where a woman has a baby overweight (i.e. pregnancy lasts longer than 39 weeks).
Physiological processes
During the perinatal period, the fetus actively develops physically.
There are several stages of the perinatal period, characterized by various physiological processes that occur in the body of a small person:
- antenatal period - 24-40 weeks;
- Intranatal period - passage through the birth canal;
- postnatal (early neonatal period) - the first 168 hours of life.
Earlier than all other feelings, the fetus forms a sense of touch: already at the very beginning of pregnancy, he is able to feel tactile stimuli. Closer to the beginning of the perinatal period, the auditory and vestibular apparatuses are formed - the child begins to hear. After 28 weeks, the baby’s development is considered to be almost perfect - he feels the beating of the mother’s heart and discerns the shades of her voice. The respiratory system of the fetus is not yet sufficiently developed. Nevertheless, children born at this time have a chance of survival, because modern medicine helps even premature babies to take a first breath.
29 and 30 weeks of gestation are characterized by increased activity of the fetus. He already moves his limbs, can stretch and even wrinkle his face. Alarmed by some circumstances, the baby in the womb expresses its concern with the tremors that the pregnant woman senses very clearly.
During this period, the crumb body quickly grows stronger and builds up muscle mass after 31 weeks. But at this time, not all the organs of the baby are sufficiently developed (the testicles of the boys still do not fall into the scrotum, and the labia of the girls are not completely closed, the navel in infants of both sexes is low). But the child born at this time already carries out the act of breathing on its own.
Starting from 32 weeks, the fetus gradually takes the position necessary for birth - head down. At 33 and 34 weeks, the baby begins to prepare for his birth. At this time, the fetus weighs about 2 or more kilograms. The cannon on the head thickens. Children born at this time are no longer considered premature.
At week 35, a small person’s nails completely grow (it’s interesting that they can be so long that the baby often scratches themselves while still in the mother’s womb).
At 36 weeks, the fetus already has a fully formed baby’s face - full and smooth cheeks, actively sucking the finger of a finger, etc. At 37 weeks the baby continues to grow, gradually lowering itself lower into the mother’s pelvis. The most intensive development is observed at 38-39 weeks of gestation. The weight of the fetus can reach 3 kg, it is quite ready for birth.
Over the course of a week, the born man still resembles little the classic baby doll. His face can be somewhat asymmetric, flattened and reddish. In the first day of the baby's life, primordial feces, called meconium, begin to stand out. A child of this age has a pronounced sucking, grasping and other reflexes.
Child development during this period
Being in the uterus, the infant experiences a wide variety of emotions: anxiety, depression, joy, love, or even hatred. Often, the baby shares the mood of the mother at a certain point.
The perinatal period of development is divided into several stages:
- Intrauterine life. The child and mother are one, connected not only by the umbilical cord, but also by common emotions. The baby receives not only nutrients and air, but also feels any experiences of the mother. The latter do not affect the condition of the crumbs in the best way (stresses can increase the muscle tone of the fetus). It is this period that creates a certain basis for the formation of relations between the child and the world.
- The period from the onset of labor to the disclosure of the birth canal. The child’s calm stay is over, a certain force squeezes him, depriving nutrients. Nevertheless, the exit to the new world for the child is still closed. During this period, the state of the mother is very important: she should not panic, scream and be nervous.The calmer and more patient the woman in labor behaves, the easier it will be for the child to carry out work on further passage through the birth canal.
- The movement of the child through the birth canal and the actual birth. This stage is considered the most difficult during childbirth. All the forces of the baby’s body are mobilized and help him move to the now clearly visible light. Birth does not mean the end of the test for the baby. All the realities of the modern world immediately fall upon the baby - the laws of attraction begin to act on it (because in the womb of his mother he was in a state of weightlessness). He awakens consciousness, and all perinatal memories become unconscious. It is the passage through the birth canal that is extremely important for the adaptation and formation of the child as a person. At this moment, various psychological mechanisms are launched. The further ability of a person to adapt to changes in life depends on the characteristics of the passage.
- The first time after childbirth. Psychologists are sure that because he hears, feels and sees the baby in the first instants of birth, his further relations with the outside world depend. It is necessary that at this moment mom should be nearby, as always for 9 months. A baby should never feel loneliness, otherwise he will unconsciously yearn for his lost bliss in his mother’s womb all his life. Skin contact, mom’s voice, the first drops of colostrum will calm the baby.
From the very first minutes, the children separated from their mother experience a sense of fear, insecurity, and confusion, and subsequently may be subject to depression, panic, and distrust of the world.
Possible diseases
The most common diseases of the perinatal period are:
- Birth injury. Represents damage to the fetus received directly during delivery. Such injuries may include soft tissue tears, fractures and dislocations, sprains, etc. The causes of such conditions can be different - from the state of the fetus to the dynamics of delivery. The rapidity and duration of childbirth, the correspondence of the size of the baby to the birth canal, prematurity and portability - all these factors affect the condition of the baby.
- Asphyxia. A condition associated with a lack of oxygen in the baby's body, as well as the accumulation of carbon dioxide. Most often, the fetus suffers not so much from asphyxia (complete lack of oxygen), but from hypoxia (its deficiency in organs and tissues). The cause of this disease is considered maternal pathology, congenital malformations of the fetus, etc.
- Hemolytic disease. Severe pathology of the neonatal period. It occurs due to incompatibility of the blood of a mother and a child by Rhesus or group. Moreover, the forms of such a disease can be both viable and non-viable.
- Infectious diseases of the fetus: pneumonia, toxoplasmosis, cytomegaly, sepsis, etc.
Most of these pathologies can complicate the course of pregnancy and provoke numerous fetal malformations.
Individual states
Separate conditions requiring a careful medical approach are prematurity and tolerance.
Prematurity is considered the birth of a child with a gestational age of less than 259 days. The number of premature infants includes babies weighing 500-2500 g and body length 25-45 cm. The main signs of prematurity are: long fluffy hair on the back, face and shoulders, soft bones, underdevelopment of nails and genitals, lack of ossification of the hips.
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Postponed babies are characterized by birth after 294 days of pregnancy. Such babies are distinguished by dry, flaky skin, ossification nuclei are noted in the femur and other bones of the skeleton.
The value of the perinatal period
The perinatal period is an extremely important time for a small person. Being in the womb, it is rapidly and comprehensively developing.It is in the period before childbirth that the baby begins to distinguish various emotions of the mother, an emotional connection is formed between them.
The birth process, although it presents some stress and shock for the baby, is an integral part of the perinatal period. It is believed that the most acceptable option for the baby is natural childbirth by passing through the birth canal. It is this way of birth that helps the child overcome a peculiar first barrier. Psychologists believe that natural birth helps a child become more purposeful and persistent. No less important is this aspect for mothers - natural childbirth forms a stronger neuro-emotional connection between her and her newborn baby.
The full life of a little man does not begin after his birth. Already from the 22nd week of pregnancy, the fetus located in the mother’s womb can hear and touch. With each new week, his skills are being improved, and by the time he is born, he is already a whole, complete being in all respects.
