ABSTRACT
Conception may surprise a woman who finds herself pregnant when she has hardly begun to think about having a baby, or had time to recover from the last one, or had even been determined to avoid pregnancy. During the first phase of pregnancy, the woman is largely preoccupied with registering and adapting to new bodily sensations, symptoms, and emotional disequilibrium, and adjusting to the practical implications of her altered state. During the first phase after fertilization, rapid cellular proliferation occurs with increasing differentiation and embryonic organs begin to develop. The hallmark of the second phase of pregnancy is an acknowledgement of the baby inside. As the pregnancy progresses towards its end, the expectant mother usually becomes more aware of the momentous, irreversible change that is about to occur. The last month or so are a mixture of cutting down on social demands, while escalating prebaby and preparatory activities, as anxiety mounts about completing all the arrangements before the birth.
