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Definition
| Finite period during pregnancy when cells for a particular tissue or organ can develop. |
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| Developing offspring from the third to eighth week after conception. |
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| Developing offspring from the ninth week after conception until birth. |
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Definition
| Reflex stimulated by infant suckling that causes milk to be released from the mother’s breast; also called milk ejection reflex. |
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Definition
| Infant weight of less than 5.5 lb (2.5 kg) at birth. |
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Definition
| Hormone, secreted by a mother’s pituitary gland, that causes musclelike cells surrounding the ducts in the breast to contract. |
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Definition
| Practice of eating nonfood items. |
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Definition
| Born before 37 weeks of gestation; preterm infants also are called premature. |
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Definition
| Hormone, secreted by a mother’s pituitary gland, that stimulates synthesis of milk in her breast. |
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| small for gestational age |
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Definition
| Weighing less than the expected weight for length of gestation. |
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Definition
| Three 13- to 14-week periods into which the normal pregnancy is somewhat arbitrarily divided for purposes of discussion and analysis (the length of a normal pregnancy is about 40 weeks, measured from the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period). |
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Definition
| To gradually accustom an infant to discontinuation of breast- or bottle-feeding by offering liquids from a cup and food from a spoon. |
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Definition
| Cell resulting from the union of an egg cell (ovum) and sperm. |
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Definition
| End segments of long bones (called the epiphyseal plate, or growth plate) that contain a thin area of active bone growth. Once this growth stops, adult height is attained and no further significant growth in height can occur. |
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Definition
| Normal response present in the first few months of life that causes the tongue to thrust outward when touched or depressed. |
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Term
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Definition
| Classification of a measurement of a unit into divisions of 100 units—for example, an individual’s rank in a group of others of the same age and gender. |
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Definition
| Period when a child physically matures into an adult capable of reproduction. Puberty is initiated by the secretion of sex hormones: primarily estrogen in females and testosterone in males. |
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Definition
| Permanent cessation of the menstrual cycle and end of fertility in women, usually occurring between the ages of 48 and 52. |
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Term
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Definition
| Surgically created short circuit in intestinal flow where the end point usually opens from the abdominal cavity rather than the anus—for example, a colostomy. Short-circuiting the intestinal flow means more water is lost in fecal matter than would be if the intestinal tract were intact. |
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Term
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Definition
| Extent to which an organ can preserve essentially normal function despite decreasing cell number or cell activity. |
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