Pregnancy involves the formation of an embryo, which grows into a baby due to the fertilization of an egg by a sperm. The baby develops in the body of a woman. Pregnancy is the best gift given by mother’s nature to a woman as a new life starts growing in her body, but it involves major changes in her body. These changes are termed as stages of pregnancy which is medically termed as three trimesters. Pregnancy takes 40 weeks to complete.

Each trimester has particular development of baby, termed as weekly pregnancy as the child grows week by week. The first trimester (week 1 - week 12) involves breast changes, tiredness, nausea, morning sickness, frequent urination, constipation. Towards approaching at the end of this stage, the uterus of the woman grows into grapefruit and the baby grows to a cherry. Woman has to take frequent small meals. The second trimester (week 13 – week 28) results in the expansion of the abdomen of the woman, back pain, body ache, darkening of skin around the breasts, patches of darker skin at forehead, cheeks, nose or upper lip, swelling of ankles, fingers and face and itching on abdomen, palms and soles of feet. The third trimester (week 29 – week 40) results in the breathing problem as the baby is growing putting pressure on other organs of the woman. The other changes are heartburn, tender breasts with milk in it, movements of the baby in lower abdomen, sleeping trouble and contractions showing the signs of labor.

Child birth-labor results in the culmination of pregnancy and birth of an infant. It is characterized by three stages of labor – dilation of the cervix, descent and birth of baby and birth of placenta. The birth of baby can be through caesarean by surgical incision in the abdomen or by vaginal birth. The birth of the baby, though is painful, bring joy and happiness in the end.