Anatomical & Physiological Changes During Pregnancy

Anatomical and Physiological Changes Institutional Affiliation 4th May 2021 Anatomical and Physiological Changes Introduction Women experience many transformations during pregnancy as a result of hormonal fluctuations and the need to create room for a growing fetus. Some of these changes are categorised into anatomical and physiological occurring during fertilization, embryonic and fetus development, birth and postpartum stages of pregnancy. This research paper is focused on changes, the hormones that regulate ovarian cycle and the comparison between Oogenesis and spermatogenesis. Fertilization and Embryonic development Fertilization and embryo development start between first to eight week of pregnancy. During this stage, the development is an uninterrupted process starting with the formation of a zygote when sperm from a male fertilizes ovum from a female (Bhatia & Chhabra, 2018). The ovum is fertilized into zygote through division, migration, development and arrangement of cells and eventually develops into a multi-cellular human being (Bhatia & Chhabra, 2018). The change that happens to zygote is the multiplication of cells due to the process known as cleavage. Also, compaction process where the cells change their shape and closely arrange themselves against each other happens in this stage. After this period, the differentiation and development of the tissues and organs structured during the embryonic process happens (Bhatia & Chhabra, 2018). Some of the anatomical changes include the growth of placenta and umbilical cord which mark the connection between the developing fetus and the