For my child developmental class I had to think of 10 things in my head that all mothers should know. I came up with a list in my head and thought that this would also be an interesting blog. There some very interesting facts and things that I learned during the class so here they are!

1) Prenatal development is the changes that revolutionize the fertilized egg into a newborn human. This would be important for the mother to know because it takes an average of 38 weeks (that’s how long you’re usually pregnant.) Prenatal development is divided into three stages. All stages have an important development in the baby-to-be.
2) Nutrition for the baby is also important. Mothers should know about this because they are sole provider while the baby is in their stomach. Most pregnant women should increase there calories by about 10%-20%. Not only calories but mothers also need good amounts of proteins, vitamins, and minerals to have a healthy baby.
3) Stress, everybody has it. Stress is not only harmful for the mother but also the baby. Studies have shown that mothers who have greater stress and anxiety during pregnancy usually give birth to babies that weigh less than normal. Mothers should find ways to deal with stress so the baby is not at harm.
4) Umbilical cord holds the blood vessels that link the embryo to the placenta. I think that this would be important for a mother to know because a lot of people are starting to keep the umbilical cord for the baby. If they should to get sick and have to kill all the bad cells they can take it from the frozen umbilical cord and it would be a perfect match, instead of waiting around for a donor. The umbilical cord is also how the baby gets nutrients while in the mother.
5) Apgar score is used to determine the baby’s condition after he or she is born. There if five different sections they look for: breathing, heartbeat, muscle tone, presence reflexes, and skin tone. This is important because mothers will want to know the condition of their new born baby. All five scores are added together, and a score of 7 or more means the baby is in good physical condition.
6) Every newborn baby will cry I don’t care how old you are your still going to cry. Crying is very important for mothers to know because a lot freak out if their baby cries. There are different cries a baby makes and all means something different. A basic cry starts out not to loud and usually becomes louder when the baby gets hungry or tired. A mad cry is just a strong version of
a basic cry. A pain cry is more rapid bursts of loud crying followed by gasping.
7) Swaddling is a very important method used where you wrap the baby up tightly in a blanket. This sooths the baby and sometimes makes them feel like they are still in the mothers womb. This is important because it sooths the baby and will help with crying. It makes the baby feel content.
8) A cesarean section, most commonly called a C-section is when the doctors make a slit in the abdomen and remove the baby from the mother’s uterus. This is important for mothers to be to know because they might be faced with the doctor asking them or telling them about a C-section. 9) Fetal alcohol syndrome is when the mother while pregnant consumes large amounts of alcohol; they then give birth to babies with this syndrome. This is important because the babies could have abnormal heart problems and misshapen faces.
10) Postpartum depression happens after the baby is born and a feeling of irritably, low self-worth, disturbed sleep, low appetite, and laziness happens to the mother. This only happens to about 10%-15% of mothers. Mothers need to be aware of this to get help, the baby can and mother can both suffer from this.