When Olivia learned in August that they were pregnant, they joyfully anticipated the arrival of a baby the following April and hoped the baby might share their late father’s birthday. Olivia didn’t know the exact date of conception, because they had been trying to conceive for several months, so the obstetrician used the first day of the last menstrual period and added two weeks, given that ovulation typically occurs midcycle. However, Olivia's doctor warned her that pregnancies can vary in length, and that very few births occur on the baby’s due date (Declercq et al., 2023).
Pregnancies are often divided into three-month periods called trimesters. However, three developmental periods also occur, each marked by major changes and occurring on a different schedule than the trimesters (Figure 2.15). Each developmental period of pregnancy involves important aspects of maternal and paternal health that can influence the health of the pregnancy, environmental factors that can affect the health of an embryo or fetus during pregnancy, and education and behaviors parents can optimize to ensure a healthy pregnancy.
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