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Glossary

• Apgar score - is the scoring system, developed by Virginia Apgar in 1953, used to assess the newborn baby immediately after birth to see how well they are adapting to life outside the womb. It assesses the ability to breathe, the baby's colour, heart rate, muscle tone and responsiveness. This leads to impairments in judgement, thinking, planning, reasoning and processing of information.

• Birth weight - The majority of full-term babies are born weighing between 3 and 5kg (6.6 to 11 lbs).

• Blastocyst - is the mass of cells which is dividing and which has started to separate into germ layers in order to start the development of the embryo.

• Carnegie Stages - 23 stages have been identified to illustrate the development of the embryo from conception to week 8 of gestation.

• Embryo - is the unborn baby in the process of developing from the point of conception to the end of the 8th week of gestation. At this point, all the internal organs have been made but are not functional.

• Embryological phase - starts at 2 weeks of gestation and lasts until all the organs are produced, so to the end of the 8th week of gestation.

• Extremely low birth weight - are babies weighing less than 1kg (2.2 lbs).

• Foetal phase - starts from 8 wks onwards to the end of the pregnancy at around 38wks gestation.

• Foetus - is the name given to the developing baby after the 8th week of pregnancy once the embryo is fully formed.

• Fontanelle - is known as the soft spot - there are two fontanelles in the newborn baby and these, together with the soft suture lines between the skull bones, allow the baby to be born more easily as these can move slightly during birth. The bone slowly grows after birth and the fontanelles close - the smaller posterior one at the back of the head usually closes around 6 weeks old and the larger, anterior one on the top of the head closes around 12 to 18 months old.

• Full-term birth - any baby born around full term or 38-40 wks gestation.

• Germinal phase - from the moment of conception to when the egg implants in the uterine wall and the germ layers start to develop - this phase lasts around 2 weeks.

• Gestation - is the period of time required for the baby to develop from conception to the birth of the full-time baby. In humans, this period is usually 38 weeks in duration. It is split into three phases - germinal, embryological and foetal phases.

• HCG - human chorionic gonadotropin - is the hormone produced by the fertilised zygote as it travels down the uterine (fallopian) tube to the uterus (womb). This is the hormone that is used in prenancy test kits as it is excreted via the mother's urine and is only present when the woman is pregnant. The kit is very sensitive but may not register pregnancy until the zygote starts to implant into the uterine wall.

• Lateralisation - is the term given when the brain starts to specialise and different areas of the brain undertake different roles.

• Low-birth weight - a low-birth weight baby weighs between 2.5 to 3 kg (5.5 to 6.6 lbs).

• Motor development - physical development is split into two areas - gross and fine motor development. Gross motor development encompasses the development of skills such as sitting up, standing, walking, etc and Fine motor development includes, the development of grasp, from grasping with the whole hand to the finer pincer grasp using thumb and finger.

• Myelination - is the process of the brain covering the nerve with a myelin sheath. This allows signals to travel more quickly down the nerve, eg in developing the toddler's attention span.

• Newborn reflexes - are reflex repsonses triggered in different situations.

• Prematurity - is the name given to babies born before their due date. It can mean that the baby hasn't fully developed all the body systems and the earlier the birth occurs in pregnancy increases the risks of health problems related to both the birth process and the potential lack of development.

• Small for Dates - these babies are small and weigh less than is expected than their gestational age would suggest, eg. a full-term baby weighing 2.8kg (~6lbs).

• Spatial perception - is the ability to locate and respond to objects in space. Eg. the ability to pick up a toy, knowing where and how to grasp it without missing where it is.

• Startle (Moro) reflex - is triggered when the baby is either moved suddenly, eg a slight drop, or if a loud noise occurs suddenly, eg a clap, near to them. The reflex is to arch the back and extend the arms, fingers and legs. The head also falls back. These disappear as the baby grows, eg the 'startle' reflex disappears around the age of 6 months.

• Synaptic pruning - is the term used in the development of the brain. Connections are made between parts of the brain using synapses as the brain grows. So many are produced that the brain needs to prune the connections that arent used to support the child's ability to develop.

• Trimester - pregnancy is split into three areas, known as trimesters - 0-12 weeks; 12-24 weeks and 24 weeks to birth at 38-40 weeks.

• Very low birth weight - is a baby over 1kg but under 2.5kg (2.2 to 5.5 lbs).

• Zygote - is the single cell formed when two gametes, eg oocyte (egg) and sperm join. Following fertilisation, the zygote will start to divide into more cells and into an embryo.

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