Given below are diagrams showing the different stages in the process of fertilisation of an egg in the human female reproductive tract. Study the diagrams and answer the questions: Given below are diagrams showing the different stages in the process of fertilisation of an egg in the human female reproductive tract. Study the diagrams and answer the questions:
Explain the term ‘Gestation’. How long does gestation last in humans?
Topic: Gestation
Answer
GESTATION is the period of full-term development of the embryo inside the uterus of the mother — the period between implantation and the birth of the baby.
In humans it lasts about 280 DAYS (40 weeks or nine months).
Both parts must be answered: the definition AND the figure. Giving two forms of the figure (280 days, or nine months) makes the answer safe.
Note the stages WITHIN gestation, since papers ask for the distinction: the developing organism is called an EMBRYO for the first eight weeks, while the organs are forming, and a FOETUS thereafter, once the organs are recognisable.
Throughout gestation the foetus is nourished through the PLACENTA and cushioned by the AMNIOTIC FLUID — and its own organs do not function, the placenta serving as its lungs, gut and kidneys at once.