Pregnancy Terms

2. Protects the developing baby and cushions the embryo from any bumps or falls that the mother might have.
7. Male reproductive cell.
8. Occurs when a sperm unites with an ovum in the uterus. An ovum lives 12 to 24 hours, while sperm is capable of fertilizing an ovum for 48 to 72 hours.
9. The units of chromosomes that determine the child’s inherited characteristics.
11. A woman who may carry a couple’s fertilized egg which was removed from the biological mother due to her inability to carry a pregnancy full term.
14. This process is used when a woman has damaged Fallopian tubes that prevent pregnancy. A doctor combines a mature egg from the woman and sperm from the husband in a small glass dish. If fertilization takes place, the doctor places the zygote in the uterus, and a normal pregnancy begins.

1. A flexible cordlike structure containing blood vessels that brings food and oxygen to the baby.
3. The curled-up position the baby assumes when it grows large and no longer has room to stretch out inside the uterus.
4. The faint movements made by the fetus in the fourth or fifth month that feel like fluttering in the womb.
5. A tissue rich in blood vessels that nourish the baby. The mother's bloodstream carries food and oxygen to the placenta.
6. The growth of a baby in the mother’s womb from conception until birth.
10. The shift in the baby's weight during the ninth month of pregnancy, giving the mother a little comfort in her upper abdomen.
12. The organ in a woman’s body in which a baby develops during pregnancy.
13. Female reproductive cell released from a woman’s ovaries.