This document provides an overview of birth and physical development during the first three years. It discusses the childbirth process and complications that can occur. It also covers early physical development including brain development, nutrition, sensory and perceptual development, and motor skills development. Gross motor skills rapidly improve in the first year while fine motor skills take longer to develop. Overall the document provides a comprehensive overview of physical changes and milestones from birth to age three.

1. BIRTH AND PHYSICAL
DEVELOPMENT DURING THE
FIRST THREE YEARS
Carlos F. Martinez MHA, M.Ed.
http://carlosFmartinez.com

2. Overview
 History
 Child Birth Process
 Cesarean Delivery
 The New Baby Born
 Complications of Childbirth
 Early Physical Development
 Nutrition
 Sensory and Perceptual
Development

3. How Birth Has Changed
 Child birth before the 20th century (US &
Europe)
 The development of science: delivery at
hospitals
 Today: delivery in birth centers

4. Child Birth Process
 Dilation of the cervix
 Descent of the baby
 Expulsion of the umbilical cord and placenta

5. The Birth Process

6. The Birth Process…(Continue)
 Electronic Fetal Monitoring
 Vaginal VS Cesarean Delivery
 Medicated VS Non-medicated Delivery

7. Cesarean Surgery (pictures)
http://pregnancy.about.com/od/cesareansection/ss/cesarean.htm
 In this picture the doctor is getting ready to
make the initial incision into her abdomen

8. Cesarean Surgery (pictures)
 There are multiple layers that the surgeon has
to go through. The procedure can last from 5
to 10 minutes

9. Cesarean Surgery (pictures)
 The doctor will use a combination of sharp instruments and
blunt dissection as s/he goes through each layer. You may
also hear whirring noises as a machine is used to burn small
blood vessels to prevent bleeding

10. Cesarean Surgery (pictures)
 When the doctor reaches the uterus, you will also hear
suctioning. After cutting through the uterus, the amniotic
fluid will be suctioned away to make a bit more room in the
uterus for the doctor's hands or instruments such as forceps or
a vacuum extractor.

11. Cesarean Surgery (pictures)
 The baby is usually engaged in the pelvis, usually head down,
but perhaps rear first or breech. Whatever part has entered the
pelvis will be lifted out by the doctors. The pt. may feel
pressure at this point and some women report feeling
nauseated during this intense, but brief moment.

12. Cesarean Surgery (pictures)
 The baby’s head is born

13. Cesarean Surgery (pictures)
 Once the head is out, your doctor will suction the baby's nose
and mouth for fluids. In a vaginal birth these are normally
squeezed out by labor and birth. In a cesarean birth, the baby
needs some extra help getting rid of these fluids.

14. Cesarean Surgery (pictures)
 Once the baby has been well suctioned, the doctor will start
to help the rest of the body be born. S/he will check of
umbilical cord entanglement or other complications.

15. Cesarean Surgery (pictures)
 The moment you've been waiting for - the baby's birth! It's
been about 5-10 minutes since the surgery started. The baby
will briefly be held over the drape and then taken away by a
nurse to a nearby warmer.

16. Cesarean Surgery (pictures)
 The repair of the uterus and the layers that were cut during
the surgery need to be repaired. During this portion of the
surgery the placenta will also be removed and examined by
your doctor. This is the longest part of the cesarean section,
which total takes about 45-60 minutes to complete.

17. The New Baby Born
 Size and Appearance.
 Body Systems.
 Medical and Behavioral Assessments.
 States of Arousal.

18. Complications of Childbirth
Low Birth Weight:
 Smoking during pregnancy
 Induced delivery
 Delayed childbearing
 Fertility drugs
 Poor nutrition
 Medical conditions (High blood pressure,
depression, anemia, etc.)

19. Complications of Childbirth…(Continue)
 Post-maturity
 Stillbirth

20. Survival and Health
Death during Infancy:
2. About 8 million infants die before 1 year old (worldwide).
3. Causes: Preterm delivery, pneumonia, asphyxiation.
4. In the US 6.87 infants died for every 1,000 live births (Year
2005).
5. Birth defects is the # 1 cause of infant deaths in US,
followed by SIDS, low-birth weight, and other maternal
complications of pregnancy.
6. African American babies are twice as likely to die in their
first year compared to white and Hispanic babies.
7. Death from Injuries.

21. SIDS
 Sudden infant death syndrome is a
condition that occurs when infants stop
breathing, usually during the night, & die
without apparent cause.
 It is recommended to place infants on their
backs to sleep in order to reduce the risk of
SIDS.

22. Early Physical Development
Principles of Development
 Cephalocaudal Principle: is a sequence in which
the greatest growth always occur at the top – the
head – with physical growth in size and weight and
gradually works its way down from top to bottom.
 Proximodistal Principle: refers to the sequence in
which growth starts at the centre of the body and
moves outwards towards the extremities.

23. Early Physical Development

24. Early Physical Development…(Continue)
The Brain:
3. Building the Brain
4. Major Parts of the Brain
5. Brain Cells

25. The Brain’s Development
 At birth, the newborn’s brain is about 25% of
its adult weight.
 By age 2, the brain is about 75% of its adult
weight.
 Newborns have all of the neurons they will
ever have – about 100 billion.
 The primary motor areas of the brain develop
earlier than the primary sensory areas.

26. The Neuron…what is it?
 Definition of a Neuron
A nerve cell that handles information processing
at the cellular level

27. The Brain’s Hemispheres
 The cerebral cortex, the highest level of the brain, is divided
into 2 halves, or hemispheres.
 Each hemisphere is involved in various & specialized
functions of thinking, feeling, & behavior.
 Extensive research on the brain’s hemispheres has focused on
language.
 At birth, the hemispheres have already started to specialize.
 Newborns show greater electrical brain activity in the left
hemisphere than the right hemisphere when listening to
speech.

28. The Brain’s Hemispheres

29. Early Physical Development…(Continue)
Nutrition:
3. Breast or Bottle?
5. Encouraging Breast-Feeding

30. Nutrition
 Human milk, or alternative formula, is the baby’s
source of nutrients & energy for the first 4 to 6
months of life.
 Growing consensus is that breast-feeding is better
for the baby’s health.

31. Nutritional Needs and Feeding
 Appropriate weight gain
 Fewer allergies
 Prevention or reduction of gastrointestinal &
respiratory infections also acute & recurrent otitis
media (middle ear infections)
 Denser bones in childhood & adulthood
 Reduced risks for childhood cancer & breast cancer
in mothers.
 Lower incidence of SIDS

32. Malnutrition in Infancy
 Weaning from breast milk to inadequate
nutrients, such as unsuitable & unsanitary
cow’s milk formula, can lead to conditions
called marasmus & kwashiorkor.
 Even if it’s not fatal, severe & lengthy
malnutrition is detrimental to physical,
cognitive, & social development.

33. Marasmus
 Marasmus is a wasting away of body tissue
in the infant’s first year, caused by severe
protein calorie deficiency.
 Infants become grossly underweight &
muscles atrophy.

34. Kwashiorkor
 Kwashiorkor is a condition caused by a deficiency in protein
in which the child’s face, legs, & abdomen swell with water.
 Vital organs collect nutrients & deprive other parts of the
body of them.
 Hair becomes thin, brittle, & colorless.

35. Sensory and Perceptual
Development
 Sensation and Perception
 Visual Perception
 Hearing
 Touch
 Smell
 Taste

36. Sensation and Perception
 Sensations occur when information interacts
with sensory receptors – the eyes, ears,
tongue, nostrils, and skin.
 Perception is the interpretation of what is
sensed.

37. Visual Perception
 The newborn’s vision is estimated to be 20/400 to
20/800 on the Snellan chart – about 10–30 times
lower than normal adult vision (20/20).
 By 6 months vision improves to 20/100.
 By 8 months, vision approximates that of an adult.
 By 4 months all color-sensitive receptors are
functioning at adult capacity.

38. Hearing
 In the last few months of pregnancy, a fetus
can hear sounds (the mother’s voice, music,
etc.)
 Infants are born with the ability to
discriminate speech sounds from any
language, but without constant exposure, they
lose the ability by their 1st birthday.

39. Touch
 Newborns respond to touch, particularly with
the sucking & rooting reflex.
 An important ability that develops during the
first year is to connect information about
vision with information about touch.
 Newborns can feel pain.

40. Smell
 Newborns can differentiate odors.
 Young infants show a preference for the smell
of their mother’s breast by six days old.

41. Taste
 Sensitivity to taste may be present at before
birth.
 Two-hour-old newborns made different facial
expressions when they tasted sweet, sour, and
bitter solutions.
 At 4 months of age, infants prefer salty tastes,
which newborns found adverse.

42. Motor Development
 Reflexes
 Gross Motor Skills
 Fine Motor Skills

43. Motor Development…(Continue)
 Reflexes are genetically carried survival
mechanisms, that govern the newborn’s
movements.
 Reflexes may serve as important building
blocks for subsequent purposeful motor
activity.

44. The Sucking Reflex
 The sucking reflex occurs when newborns
automatically suck an object placed in their
mouth.
 Enables newborns to get nourishment before
they have associated a nipple with food.
 Disappears after 3–4 months.

45. The Rooting Reflex
 The rooting reflex occurs when the infant’s
cheek is stroked or the side of the mouth is
touched.
 In response, the infant turns its head towards
the side that was touched in an apparent effort
to find something to suck.
 Disappears after 3–4 months.

46. The Moro Reflex
 A neonatal startle response that occurs in response
to a sudden, intense noise or movement.
 When startled, a newborn arches its back, throws
back its head, & flings out its arms & legs.
 The newborn then rapidly closes its arms & legs to
the centre of the body.
 Disappears after 3–4 months

47. The Grasping Reflex
 The grasping response occurs when
something touches the infant’s palms.
 Infant responds by grasping tightly.
 Replaced around the end of the third month
by voluntary grasps, often produced by visual
stimuli.

48. Gross Motor Skills
 Gross motor skills involve large muscle activities,
such as moving one’s arms & walking.
 Gross motor changes are the most dramatic &
observable changes in the infant’s 1st yr of life.
 The month at which gross motor milestones occur
varies by as much as 2-4 months.
 In the 2nd yr of life toddlers become more mobile.

49. Gross Motor Skills

50. Fine Motor Skills
 Fine motor skills involve more finely tuned
movements, such as finger dexterity.
 Infants have hardly any control over fine motor
skills at birth.
 They do have many components of what later
become finely coordinated hand & finger
movements.
 Reaching & grasping become more refined during
the first 2 yrs of life.

51. Questions?
THANK YOU!
carlos@carlosFmartinez.com