Human child birth, indeed the appearance of a new  life in nature amazes me. In my last post I described some of the processes that makes conception and birth one of the wonders of mother nature. In this post I continue with part II.

Fertilization and cell division. 

In the YouTube clip you see the actual video recording of an egg being fertilized by a sperm. This is what is done for In-vitro fertilization (IVF). After the egg is fertilized it undergoes a series of cell division. Ultimately forming a ball of cells known as the the blastocyst. It is the blastocyst that is implanted on the lining of the uterus. See the clip now to observe the cells dividing.

Fetal growth in the uterus.

The ball of cells continues to grow, being nourished from the blood vessels in the uterus lining. This is made possible by a growth of cells from the blastocyst which grow into the uterus. This will eventually form a network blood vessels which will from the placenta. The placenta is virtually a heart-lung machine. It receives nutrients from the mother for the growing fetus and removes waste products from the fetus.

In the clip below, you see the implantation of the ball of cells – blastocyst, and the growth of the embryo into a fetus. Watch the clip now.

My next post on the ‘miracle of life” I will talk about about the process of giving birth. Some of questions like, “how does a female’s body know that the fetus is ready to come out?” and other other related questions will be answered in my next post.

I think, if we men, and especially from male dominated cultures like PNG, know some of these facts about a women’s body and the cycle of life, it might help us appreciate and give women in our society equal opportunity. I also think, a lack of knowledge of things like this contribute to the abuse of women and children in  our societies. While we talk about empowering women in our societies, I also think it is equally important to educate men in our societies as well. Until then, catch up on my next post on “the miracle of life”.