Sarah M. Blog #2 Wed. March 25, 2010 3/3

What we did today

• Wrote our reproductive system unit test (yay for babies)
• Will write the written response on friday

About the material

It's very interesting to learn about all of the stages that an embryo goes through in order to become a fetus.  It's also interesting to know all of the things that can go wrong, like cleft pallets and spina bifida.  It's a bit of a miracle that an egg gets fertilized by a sperm, that the egg attaches to the right spot in a woman's body and then that the baby is born without problems, because a lot of things can go wrong.  It's amazing to know that most of the development happens within the first three months and after that its just fine tuning and getting bigger.  There are many questions associated with this unit and one i was wondering what causes a woman to have a C-section.

Above and Beyond

I went to the website http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/240_1031.asp and found out that there are many reasons why a woman might require a C-section instead of a normal birth.  Some of the reasons include:

• The woman has already had a c-section in another pregnancy or other surgeries on her uterus.
• The baby is too big to pass safely through the vagina.
• The baby's buttocks or feet enter the birth canal first, instead of the head. This is called a breech position.
• The baby's shoulder enters the birth canal first, instead of the head. This is called a transverse position.
• There are problems with the placenta. Placental problems can cause dangerous bleeding during vaginal birth.
• Labor is too slow or stops.
• The baby's umbilical cord slips into the vagina, where it could be squeezed or flattened during vaginal delivery
• The woman has an infection like HIV or genital herpes.  
• The woman is having twins, triplets or more.
• The baby has problems during labor that show it is under stress, such as a slow heart rate
• The woman has a serious medical condition that requires intensive or emergency treatment (such as diabetes or high blood pressure).
• The baby has a certain type of birth defect.