You are very lucky to be born. Fewer than half your mother’s zygotes (fertilised eggs) survived beyond two weeks. How are you lucky? Because for you, that very zygote prevailed. Cells multiplied until they produced a zygote of 100 cells within a week. Then the cells specialised, one decided to become a heart and the other turned into lungs. It is a puzzle that scientists have just begun to solve!

Ten days after conception, the zygote attaches to the mother’s uterine wall. The zygote’s inner cells then become the embryo and over the next six weeks, organs begin to form. Nine weeks later, the embryo takes a human form (fetus). Every prenatal stage plays a role in the child’s development. The placenta (outer cells of a zygote) is attached to the uterine wall; it transfers nutrients and oxygen from the mother to the child. The placenta also screens harmful substances, but some slip by like teratogens. That’s why if a mother carries the HIV virus, her child might carry it as well. It doesn’t stop there! It can potentially be more serious such as “if the mother is a heroin addict, her baby will be born a heroin addict”.

There is a famous saying that “a pregnant mother never smokes alone”. She and the baby both face its effects in the shape of reduced blood oxygen and shots of nicotine in the system. The baby is more at risk because he/she will receive fewer nutrients which are essential for the growth of a child. As a result, the child will be born underweight and have high chances of having various medical problems.

Alcohol is another big pregnancy risk, and people who think women can drink moderately or in control during pregnancy, are wrong! There is no safe amount of drinking when pregnant. Alcohol enters the mother’s bloodstream and reaches the child which then undergoes depressed activity in the central nervous system. Research has shown that a mother’s alcohol consumption can predispose her unborn child to alcohol addiction and the child could have a higher risk of developing alcoholism in the course of his/her life. Researchers experimented on female rats by making them drink alcohol while pregnant. Results showed that their offspring developed a preference for the smell of alcohol. Drinking during pregnancy can also have serious effects on the unborn child’s brain which can lead to birth defects and mental retardation. The effects are recognised as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), which can lead to malformed cranial development and lifelong brain defects which are irreversible.

Therefore, mothers should act very responsibly whilst pregnant. Starting a family should be a planned initiative and both parents should take responsibility, see it through and avoid regarding it as a mistake. A parent’s reckless decisions can cause a lifetime of misery, culminating in physical and mental issues for a child who’s yet to be born!