The process that occurs during the 40 weeks prior to the child birth is called prenatal development. It is divided in 3 trimesters and does not correspond with the stages. The first trimester ends when the embryo comes to an end, the second trimester ends on the 20th week and the third trimester ends when the child is born. Prenatal development is the development of the child inside the mother’s womb. The child does not just come out of the mother’s womb, it goes through stages of change and development. This stage of development is referred to as prenatal development. There are three major stages in the prenatal development:
1. Germinal stage
The germinal stage occurs from the time of conception until 2 weeks. The conception occurs when the sperm fertilizes an egg to form a zygote. In the first week after conception, the zygote begins to divide and multiply from one cell structure to two cell structures and so on. This cell division process is called mitosis. Five days after the mitosis 100 cells are built up and later million cells are built up after 9 months. These cells get specialized and divided into the different organs of the body. During this stage the cells necessary for umbilical cord, placenta and amniotic fluid are differentiated to form the embryo.