10 weeks pregnant
The end of the pregnancy week ten sees the fetus moving from the embryonic phase to the fetal phase or period. It is now between 31 to 42mm in length. During this stage or pregnancy the growth of the fetus is at an amazing rate. Now the fetus should not be affected by outside toxins and there should be no malfunctions in its development. However, this still does not mean that the mother can smoke or consume alcohol safely. Most of the organs of the baby are functioning and those that are not are continuing to develop. At this stage baby hair and toe nails and the spinal nerves can be seen. The baby starts moving about in the amniotic fluid and has learnt to take breaths and kick around because of its recent muscle formation. The fetal heartbeat can now be heard.
During this stage of pregnancy it is essential to do genetic testing. Chorionic villus is done for women who are having a child after the age of 35. This test of triple screen will show any disorders like deformities of the ventral walls, whether the baby is in danger of being born prematurely, whether the birth weight is going to be far below normal, whether there are any defects of the neural tubes and whether the child suffers from downs syndrome. Such screening results could be wrong at times as even scientific results could go wrong at times. So the doctor should take precautions when carrying out such test that the parents are not unduly upset by the test results. Genetic testing is also not absolutely safe for the mother and the child and is not always recommended unless absolutely required. The doctors should decide on this depending on the level of risk with the pregnancy and different techniques could be used.
