From conception to birth

Joseph and Esther have intercourse. Nine months later ... … Esther gives birth to a child. What has happened inside her body during this time? Let’s follow the development of a new human being. This is what Esther’s genitals look like inside the body.

Here are the sex cells, the eggs, in the ovaries. The eggs have been there all of Esther’s life. About once a month, one of the eggs leaves the ovaries. It ripens and passes through one of the fallopian tubes, to the uterus. If there happens to be sperm in the fallopian tube, something special can take place.

And at this particular time, that is the case. Because Joseph ejaculates in Esther’s vagina. Millions of sperm are pushed out from his penis into her body. The sperm have a task, to find an egg. They start to swim, in all directions.

Many get stuck in obstacles along the way. Others are attacked and killed by Esther’s immune system. But some sperm make it all the way here, to the fallopian tubes. Where they meet the ripened egg. One of the sperm fuses with the egg.

Together they form a new unique cell. There has been a conception. A conception can occur in other ways than by intercourse. An egg and a sperm can fuse during an assisted conception. This can happen in different ways: Sperm is collected, and they are placed in a vagina during ovulation.

Or eggs are removed from the ovaries and put together with sperm in a laboratory. If an egg and a sperm then fuse, the new cell can then be placed in the uterus. Assisted conception can be offered to heterosexual couples who don’t succeed in conceiving through intercourse, or to lesbian couples or single women. But Esther got pregnant after intercourse. The fertilised cell is called a zygote.

The zygote starts dividing at once. One cell becomes two. Two becomes four. Four becomes eight, and so on. A small cell cluster is formed, an embryo, which continues to move toward the uterus.

In the uterus, the embryo attaches to the uterine wall. Here, a new organ is developed: one that’s only found in a pregnant person. This is the placenta. It receives nutrients and oxygen from the mother and passes it on to the embryo through a long winding tube, the umbilical cord. Now, the embryo has started to develop what will become a heart, brain, hands, feet, and other things that together make a human body.

About three weeks after the conception, the heart starts to beat. The embryo grows, but is still small. After 4 weeks, it is about half a centimetre long. After ten weeks, about 3 centimetres. Now, most of the organs are formed, and the embryo is called a foetus.

Now, the foetus just needs to grow and become a child. And it grows fast. The foetus moves around inside the uterus. It turns and kicks. 38 weeks after conception, the foetus is 51 centimetres long.

There is not a lot of space in the uterus. The infant settles with the head down. It’s ready for its birth. The uterus has strong muscles that start to contract. These contractions will eventually push the child out through the vagina.

Esther knows the baby will soon be born. Esther is nervous. The last time she gave birth, she was in labour for more than 24 hours at the hospital. In the end, the birth team had to assist by pulling the child, with the help of a suction cup on the child’s head, while Esther pushed. It turned out well in the end, and goes well this time too.

After a few hours at the hospital, she gives birth to Michael. Michael has lived in water for nine months, and received nutrients and oxygen via the umbilical cord. This changes in an instant. Michael now lives in air, which he himself must draw into his lungs. A new human being takes its first breaths.