Title: Body Atlas; In the Womb

Director: Thelma Rumsey

Character: Valerie, Zoe, and Zoe's Baby


Synopsis

The topic of human birth is quite an interesting one. For example, why do we give birth the way we do? Why is labor so incapacitating to human females, and how has natural selection been a factor? The film have investigated the way in which the process of human pregnancy has evolved over time, and found a strong link between the biological and the sociological

The film follows the development of Valerie’s coming baby son, from hours after conception to a few weeks before his birth. It concludes with the birth of her friend Zoe’s son.

Large animals generally have longer pregnancies. Humans have one of the longest, 39 weeks. Pregnancy varies little from woman to woman.

All of the eggs a woman will produce are formed in her ovaries before she is born. They are the largest cells in the body. A man will continue to produce sperm for most of his life. A woman releases one egg every 28 days. It drifts into a fallopian tube and will be impregnated by only one of the millions of sperm which have entered her body.

All of the genetic information to produce a unique human is combined from the egg and sperm. In 1 1/2 days the fertilized egg will divide into two cells. It will take one week to travel down the fallopian tube to attach itself to the wall of the uterus.

Valerie can test her possible pregnancy through a hormonal shift which shows up in a test of her urine. Around the time of her first missed menstrual period, Valerie's breasts enlarge, signaling that her body is beginning to adapt.

The baby are develop started in 3rd week. The heart of the fetus begins beating. Most organs have begun. In less than a month the egg becomes an embryo. In 5th week, the umbilical cord functioning. The brain of the fetus is 1/3 of his size. In the sixth week, the fingers and toes start forming. Seventh week, first movement is undetectable and the baby weighs is 1/3 oz. In the 8th week, the fetus is one inch long, the bone is forming and begun to be like a human.

The head is almost 1/2 of body's length in the ninth week. Rudimentary spinal cord is formed. No sign of consciousness. In the 14th week, Valerie can feel movement. Fetus swallows and excretes. Thumb sucking begins and indicating handedness.

Fetus fills womb in 16th week. It is receiving food and eliminating waste through the umbilical cord to the placenta, which acts as its lungs, liver and digestive organs. In the 20th week, the heartbeat is twice Valerie's and is delivering daily a few spoonfuls of blood. Valerie is aware of its sleeping and waking times.

In the 26th week, Valerie's heart, kidneys, breathing, and skin are adapting. Baby can hear and is light sensitive. In the 30th week, the baby now almost independents, has a good chance of survival, though still 2 months premature.

In 35th-39th week, the baby's muscle tone and brain well developed. Valerie has gained 30 lbs. Baby turns head down.

The most awaiting moment from a mother is the birth of the baby. The baby' first cry starts its breathing and oxygen intake causes red blood cells to change its color from blue to pink.

The infant are dependent to the vital until the umbilical have cut. The infant are independent. They will breath in their own.





Commentaries:

Humans are formed from two cells that combined and fertilized. From many sperm cells fighting for one egg cell, a man is form.

As the success of human birth and the ability to conceive more frequently in a lifetime became greater. Increased birth rates meant increased variation, providing a larger pool of genetic traits to be selected for or against.

Birth evolved from a private to a social process in order to increase the rates of survival for both mother and child. With time, this socialization led to the development of various techniques of compensating for the physical limitations.

Many people believe that sometimes they are unfortunate, but being birth is very auspicious. Among millions of sperms, having different genes, you are formed.