Pregnancy. Development in the womb. The baby is ready to be born. We have traced the development of the baby from the very sacrament of conception. We saw how a complex human organism gradually developed from one single cell, which had information about mom and dad. Here is the previous article. Today we will complete our observations of the development of the baby by talking about the third trimester of pregnancy. All articles in the heading Pregnancy, childbirth, recovery after childbirth The last trimester of pregnancy is characterized by intensive growth and maturation of all organs and systems of the baby. He is actively preparing for life outside the mother's body. This readiness occurs at 37 weeks of pregnancy. From this time, the baby is almost ready for extrauterine life - he can breathe on his own, is ready to switch to a different type of nutrition, all the vital functions of his body can work independently. During the third trimester of pregnancy, the child’s brain continues to form and become more complex; important processes of maturation of nerve cells and their membranes are taking place. A complex central nervous system is formed, allowing the small organism, immediately after birth, to feel tactile touches, distinguish between heat and cold, smell, taste, hear sounds, and adapt normally to a completely new type of nutrition for it - breast or artificial feeding. At 40 weeks, normal brain weight child is 382 g. Delayed or impaired development of the brain can weaken the protective and adaptive forces of the baby and its resistance to the upcoming important work - the act of birth. A healthy full-term baby is quite ready for the birth process. Many brain structures are ready for vital activity even before the baby is born, it’s just that for now, in the mother’s womb, they have nowhere to manifest themselves (there is no “worthy use”). So the baby can see, hear, smell, taste, and even have his own individual addictions already in intrauterine life. Immediately after birth, the baby is capable of remembering and learning a new world, so meeting a newborn with tenderness and love will provide him with a good foundation for his entire future life. Scientists have noted that tactile contact with the mother, gentle touches, a gentle voice, soft intonations and words of love immediately after birth (and subsequently, of course) contribute to the accelerated maturation of higher brain structures. Despite the relatively large mass of the newborn’s brain, it is not yet functionally mature. The baby still doesn’t know how to do anything on his own, but he is ready to perceive very, very many things immediately after birth. The baby’s brain is sensitive to hypoxia (lack of oxygen). The outcomes of this condition can be disturbances in the physical and neuropsychic development of the child, from minimal brain dysfunction to serious motor and intellectual disorders. Of course, the baby’s central nervous system already has protective mechanisms and recovery capabilities, but we won’t take risks, right? Therefore, the expectant mother should prepare for childbirth in advance and help the baby already during the birth process, following all the instructions of the obstetrician-gynecologist in order to avoid traumatizing the baby during childbirth. Also, in order to avoid disruption of the blood supply to the uterus and hypoxia, the expectant mother in the last weeks of pregnancy (from 30 weeks) is not recommended to lie on her back. In this position, the large uterus compresses the large vessels that feed the baby. Irregular breathing movements, which arose in the child in the second trimester of pregnancy, contribute to the maturation of the lungs. Now there are 2 times more such respiratory movements than in the last trimester. The viability of the baby at birth is largely determined by the degree of development of his lungs and the ability to breathe independently without a ventilator. After 36 weeks of pregnancy, in most cases, the baby’s lungs are quite ready to function outside the mother’s body . A delay in the development of the lungs and a discrepancy between their maturity and gestational age can be caused by 30