Prenatal Development Case Study

Prenatal Development

On October 21st, 1997, Emma Raynor was born to parents Erica and Dan. Emma’s arrival takes the Raynor family by surprise, as Erica went into labor and delivered Emma vaginally at only thirty-six weeks gestation. Erica was very diligent during her pregnancy, making sure that all the necessary precautions were taken to ensure the arrival of a healthy baby. Erica is a healthy twenty-seven year old woman who never smokes or abuses drugs or alcohol. As far as she knows, she was not exposed to any environmental pollutants during her pregnancy. Erica also took prenatal vitamins to ensure the health of her baby. Despite this diligence, Erica unfortunately had to place her mother in an assisted living facility during her pregnancy.

Emma receives a five-minute APGAR rating of six. To ensure her safety, Emma is admitted to the NICU. Five days later, Emma is allowed to come home. Erica feared that Emma’s immune system would not be fully developed due to her early arrival, so she opted to breastfeed so that Emma could reap the immune benefits such as protection against infections (Kuther, 2017). Emma’s extended stay in the NICU was not cheap, so the Raynor’s opted to use cloth diapers until they made a considerable dent in their hospital bills. Erica was also concerned about Emma’s ability to breathe independently, as she did not receive the best score on the respiration portion of the APGAR scale. Therefore, Erica purchased a bassinet, which she cleared of blankets and toys. By doing this and placing Emma on her back to sleep, Erica effectively reduced Emma’s risk of SIDS (Kuther, 2017).

Infancy

During infancy, Emma hits all of her milestones at the appropriate time. She is sitting on her own at six months, and walking and talking at twelve months (Kuther, 2017). Erica is delighted when she realizes Emma’s first word is “mama,” which is soon followed by “dada” and

When Erica asks Emma what she thinks of said program, Emma quickly becomes uncomfortable, which prompts Erica to drop the subject.

Adolescence

In high school, Emma continues to excel academically. Although most adolescents find school transitions challenging (Kuther, 2017), Emma seems to transition flawlessly. Emma even elects to join a community service organization. This tendency towards helping people demonstrates high levels of moral reasoning (Kuther, 2017). She also manages to earn a spot on the soccer team. Most of Emma’s friends are on the soccer team, as well. Much like Emma, these friends are more athletic than stereotypically feminine.

To celebrate Emma making the soccer team, Erica and Dan want to take Emma out to dinner with her grandparents. Right before leaving, Erica and Dan discover that Emma is dressed inappropriately. After talking about it, they agree that Emma may experiment with her clothing if it pleases her, but she must still dress appropriately around her