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Abortion is the expulsion of the foetus from the uterus.
 Research Abortion
Creationism is the doctrine that a soul is specially created for each human foetus as soon as it is formed in the womb, as opposed to Traducianism, which teaches that the souls of children as well as their bodies are begotten by the parents; and to Infusionism, which holds that souls are pre-existent, and that a soul is divinely infused into each human fcetus as soon as it is formed by generation.
The term Creationism is also now widely applied to that theory of the origin of the universe which is opposed to Evolution, that is the literal theory put forward in the book of Genesis in the bible.
Research Creationism
Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson was an English doctor. He was born in 1828 at Somerby, and died in 1896. He graduated in medicine at St Andrews University in 1854 and in 1855 founded the Journal of Health. He gained the Astley Cooper prize for his treatise on the cause of the Coagulation of the Blood and the Fothergillian gold medal for a disquisition on the Diseases of the Foetus in Utero. He originated the use of ether spray for the local abolition of pain in surgical operations, and introduced methylene bichloride as a general anaesthetic. He was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and of the Royal Society, and was knighted in 1893. He published works on medicine and hygiene, and was an earnest sanitary and temperance reformer.
Research Benjamin Richardson
Alpha-fetoprotein is a protein that forms in the liver of the human foetus. Excessive quantities in the amniotic fluid and maternal blood may indicate spina bifida in the foetus; low levels may indicate Down's syndrome.
Research Alpha-fetoprotein
Amniocentesis is a medical procedure sometimes performed during pregnancy to help determine the health and maturity of an unborn baby. It involves the withdrawal and study of a small amount of the amniotic fluid that surrounds the foetus in the mother's uterus. Laboratory tests on the fluid, which contains cells shed by the foetus, enable detection of many serious disorders that may affect the foetus. Such disorders include Down's syndrome and spina bifida. Amniocentesis involves little risk to either the mother or the foetus.
Amniocentesis is mostly performed around the 16th week of pregnancy on 'at risk' mothers. These include those more than 35 years of age and those with genetic disorders in the family. If tests reveal serious abnormality, likely to cause death or pronounced handicap, the parents may choose to end the pregnancy. Otherwise, doctors can plan ahead for early treatment, either in the womb or at birth. If there is some medical reason for delivering a baby before it is due to be born, amniocentesis may be performed later in pregnancy. In this case, tests show whether the baby is likely to survive outside the womb. An obstetrician performs amniocentesis with the aid of ultrasound which enables the obstetrician to monitor the position of the foetus while inserting a long hollow needle through the mother's abdominal wall and into the uterus. The obstetrician then withdraws a small amount of amniotic fluid, which is sent away for testing.
Research Amniocentesis
A foetus is an unborn offspring of an animal.
Research Foetus
The neck is the part of the body which connects the head with the shoulders. In a human, the neck is based around seven cervical vertebrae encased by a complex system of muscles which both move the vertebrae and hold them in position. The human stereoscopic vision relies upon a supple neck to allow the head to be rotated, but other than for this purpose humans have less need and reliance upon their neck than most other animals, since humans make primary use of their hands rather than their mouth.
When a human foetus is forming, gills are present in the neck, a throw-back to man's earlier evolutionary period as an aquatic mammal. By the time of birth the gills have disappeared, but rarely a gill remains either as a cyst or as an opening at the side of the neck. These anomalies are usually corrected with surgery.
Research Neck
An ovum is a female gamete, or reproductive cell. The ovum is typically fertilised by the male gamete, the sperm, before later developing into a foetus. The term ovum is also used to describe the early stages of development where the fertilised egg has divided into a mass of cells.
Research Ovum
Thalidomide was a sedative drug prescribed to pregnant women during the 1960s. It caused deformity of the foetus resulting in children born with severely stunted or non-existent limbs.
Research Thalidomide
The umbilical cord is the communicating channel between the placenta and the foetus. It sends waste products from the foetus to the placenta and returns the blood from the placenta to the foetus. At birth the arteries in the umbilical cord constrict and close, stopping the blood flow to the placenta. Soon after the birth the umbilical cord is cut short and securely clamped.
Research Umbilical Cord
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The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
©1993 - 2009 The Probert Encyclopaedia
Southampton, United Kingdom
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