How Do Teratogens Affect Prenatal Development

To use any sort of substance while trying to become pregnant is absurd. Timing is everything during development and even prior to testing positively for pregnancy. A very large and essential part of prenatal care is the avoidance of teratogens. As we proceed I will mention the affects teratogens have on prenatal development, why the alcohol consumption should be reduced completely, and I will define what a teratogen actually is.

Teratogen is a word used to describe behaviors, environments, and bodily conditions that can harm the development process of an organism. The process of prenatal development requires a healthy and strict lifestyle. To think that one would have the desire to live any lifestyle other than a healthy one during the development process is crazy. That being said, the three most major teratogens are alcohol and tobacco, malnutrition, and infectious diseases. One of which, is what you are concerned with. It is known that in developed countries, like our own, the teratogen that is
The process is divided into three time periods. Those three periods consist of the germinal period, the embryonic period, and the fetal period. In fact, the time period at which vulnerability to teratogens is the highest is actually the embryonic period. This primarily due to the fact that during this period, the major organ systems are being formed. The central nervous system begins forming at the start of the 3rd week. During the middle of the 3rd week, the heart starts to be formed. Later towards the end of the 4th week, arms, legs, eyes, and ears are being formed. Towards the end of the the embryonic period, the teeth and external genitalia are formed. All of these have the greatest sensitivity to teratogens, especially alcohol. Also, any sort of teratogen can do damage during the fetal period as well, which is the period in which the organs are finishing their