Pregnancy facts for kids

A pregnant woman.

Pregnancy is when a female mammal has an unborn baby inside her. During pregnancy, a female is called "pregnant". A human pregnancy is about 38 weeks long, from conception to childbirth. Usually the mother has one baby at a time. Sometimes the mother has two babies at one time. Two babies are called twins. The mother can have three or more babies at one time. This does not happen very often.

Growth of the baby

When the woman's egg and the man's seed come together, it makes one cell called a zygote. The zygote grows into an embryo, which grows into a fetus. When the fetus is ready, the baby is born.

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  Embryo at 4 weeks after fertilization

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  Fetus at 8 weeks after fertilization

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  Fetus at 18 weeks after fertilization

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  Fetus at 38 weeks after fertilization

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  Relative size in 1st month (simplified illustration)

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  Relative size in 3rd month (simplified illustration)

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  Relative size in 5th month (simplified illustration)

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  Relative size in 9th month (simplified illustration)

Images for kids

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  In the later part of pregnancy the uterus takes up much of the abdomen.

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  Fertilization and implantation in humans

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  The uterus as it changes in size over the duration of the trimesters

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  Linea nigra in a woman at 22 weeks pregnant

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  The Visitation: Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visiting pregnant Elizabeth, depicted as a statue at the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem, Israel.

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  Taweret ancient Egyptian goddess of pregnancy.

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  The Deserted Wife aka The Waif, Octave Tassaert, 1852

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  Picture of the tragic and gory story about the life of a travelling actress called Okume.

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  Statue of a pregnant woman, Macedonia

See also

In Spanish: Embarazo humano para niños