PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

Should Psychologists Be Interested In Prenatal Development?

Should Psychologists Be Interested In Prenatal Development?

Introduction

I am in the favor that the psychologist should be interested in prenatal development. Prenatal development can be divided into three stages: preimplantation, embryonic, and fetal. The preimplantation period, between fertilization and implantation of the conceptus in the uterine wall (Bendersky, Bennett and Lewis, 2006), takes an average of 7 days. The embryonic period is considered to be the major period of organogenesis, lasting about 2 months from conception. During the fetal period, lasting until about 38 weeks after conception, growth, functional maturation, and further differentiation ...