LIFE
©LIFE(Irl) 2010
DVD Answers
Gestation means the number of weeks the baby has been in the womb from
fertilisation. (Doctors use the first date of the last period (LMP) rather than fertilisation
to calculate pregnancy).
The baby was 26 weeks gestation. Yes, the baby lived long enough to give a small cry.
The usual length of pregnancy is about 40 weeks.
No, it is not normal. Going into labour at 26 weeks is described as “premature”.
A 26-week-old baby would measure about 24 cms from crown to rump and weigh
about 900 grammes.
A neonatal unit is a ward in a maternity hospital with special staff and equipment to
care for newborn and especially, premature babies.
This baby would have been placed in an incubator and have had special care in a
neonatal unit and may well have survived. Babies of this gestation have a good chance
of survival in Irish hospitals.
The umbilical cord attaches the baby in the womb to the placenta and all the
nourishment for the baby comes through it. Your tummy button marks where you were
attached to your mother in the womb.
The placenta is attached to the lining of the womb and, via the umbilicus, provides
nourishment to the growing baby. It is also called “the afterbirth”.
Adoption: (booklet page 7)
Modern adoption is very different. All adoptions are arranged through an adoption
agency. There is no pressure on the client to make up her mind quickly. The natural
parent/s can have a part in choosing the kind of family the baby goes to. The baby
may be placed in temporary foster care while the mother makes her final decision.
Open adoption is where a mother, or both natural parents, can keep in direct contact
with their child and visit him/her usually once or twice a year. This is an informal
agreement facilitated by the agency.
Semi-open adoption means that the contact is through letters, cards, presents etc
sometimes known as mailbox.
In a closed adoption there is no continuing contact between adoptive and natural
parents, although the agency keeps a record. A national contact adoption register is
now in place and children can trace their parents if they wish from the age of 18.
Abortion Facts: (booklet page 7)
The law in Britain is relevant to abortion in Ireland because abortion is not allowed in
Ireland and most Irish women seeking abortion travel to clinics in the U.K.
The current law ( in the U.K.) allows abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion is
allowed up to birth if there is a serious risk of grave permanent damage (physical or
mental) to the mother or of serious abnormality in the child.
The most common abortion used worldwide is suction termination also known as
vacuum aspiration.
The instruments get into the womb through the vagina. The doctor uses instruments
to dilate the cervix so the instruments can enter the womb and remove the baby.
Suction abortion can only be done up to 13 weeks because after that time, the baby
is too large to be removed from the womb through the vagina.
After 14 weeks, drugs called prostaglandins are administered to bring on uterine
contractions and induce labour
Ultrasound Imaging: (booklet page 8)
A 3 D scan is an image taken on three different planes and shows the baby in the
three dimensions of height, width and depth.
A 4D scan adds the dimension of time and so movement is added to the 3D image.
General Questions: (booklet page 9)
A baby’s heartbeat can be detected three weeks after fertilisation. This is about five
weeks after the last monthly period.
PART TWO: IT’S OK TO SAY “NO”
Yes, media reports and surveys would indicate that a number, but not by any
means, all, teenagers are sexually active. Have you ever been surveyed?
Yes, this seems to be so from TV soaps, advertising, fashion and other influences.
What do you think?
There are consequences including pregnancy, STIs and emotional hurt.
Yes
Yes
No
Yes.
Yes. Statistics show an alarming rise in the number of infections reported. Clinics
are very crowded and waiting times are longer.
Chlamydia is called silent because there are often no visible symptoms and the
person infected is thus not aware of the danger to him/herself or sexual partners.
An STI can be caught unknowingly from having intercourse with an infected person
and then passed on to any other sexual partners. While some STIs can be treated,
others remain for life.
Ano-genital warts may be the precursor of cervical cancer.
Some STIs may damage the fallopian tubes especially chlamydia and gonorrhoea.
These are tiny tubes inside the woman’s body necessary for the passage of the
fertilised egg to implant in the womb
Yes
No
Yes
Most people think so. What do you think?
©LIFE(Irl) 2010
DVD Answers
Gestation means the number of weeks the baby has been in the womb from
fertilisation. (Doctors use the first date of the last period (LMP) rather than fertilisation
to calculate pregnancy).
The baby was 26 weeks gestation. Yes, the baby lived long enough to give a small cry.
The usual length of pregnancy is about 40 weeks.
No, it is not normal. Going into labour at 26 weeks is described as “premature”.
A 26-week-old baby would measure about 24 cms from crown to rump and weigh
about 900 grammes.
A neonatal unit is a ward in a maternity hospital with special staff and equipment to
care for newborn and especially, premature babies.
This baby would have been placed in an incubator and have had special care in a
neonatal unit and may well have survived. Babies of this gestation have a good chance
of survival in Irish hospitals.
The umbilical cord attaches the baby in the womb to the placenta and all the
nourishment for the baby comes through it. Your tummy button marks where you were
attached to your mother in the womb.
The placenta is attached to the lining of the womb and, via the umbilicus, provides
nourishment to the growing baby. It is also called “the afterbirth”.
Adoption: (booklet page 7)
Modern adoption is very different. All adoptions are arranged through an adoption
agency. There is no pressure on the client to make up her mind quickly. The natural
parent/s can have a part in choosing the kind of family the baby goes to. The baby
may be placed in temporary foster care while the mother makes her final decision.
Open adoption is where a mother, or both natural parents, can keep in direct contact
with their child and visit him/her usually once or twice a year. This is an informal
agreement facilitated by the agency.
Semi-open adoption means that the contact is through letters, cards, presents etc
sometimes known as mailbox.
In a closed adoption there is no continuing contact between adoptive and natural
parents, although the agency keeps a record. A national contact adoption register is
now in place and children can trace their parents if they wish from the age of 18.
Abortion Facts: (booklet page 7)
The law in Britain is relevant to abortion in Ireland because abortion is not allowed in
Ireland and most Irish women seeking abortion travel to clinics in the U.K.
The current law ( in the U.K.) allows abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion is
allowed up to birth if there is a serious risk of grave permanent damage (physical or
mental) to the mother or of serious abnormality in the child.
The most common abortion used worldwide is suction termination also known as
vacuum aspiration.
The instruments get into the womb through the vagina. The doctor uses instruments
to dilate the cervix so the instruments can enter the womb and remove the baby.
Suction abortion can only be done up to 13 weeks because after that time, the baby
is too large to be removed from the womb through the vagina.
After 14 weeks, drugs called prostaglandins are administered to bring on uterine
contractions and induce labour
Ultrasound Imaging: (booklet page 8)
A 3 D scan is an image taken on three different planes and shows the baby in the
three dimensions of height, width and depth.
A 4D scan adds the dimension of time and so movement is added to the 3D image.
General Questions: (booklet page 9)
A baby’s heartbeat can be detected three weeks after fertilisation. This is about five
weeks after the last monthly period.
PART TWO: IT’S OK TO SAY “NO”
Yes, media reports and surveys would indicate that a number, but not by any
means, all, teenagers are sexually active. Have you ever been surveyed?
Yes, this seems to be so from TV soaps, advertising, fashion and other influences.
What do you think?
There are consequences including pregnancy, STIs and emotional hurt.
Yes
Yes
No
Yes.
Yes. Statistics show an alarming rise in the number of infections reported. Clinics
are very crowded and waiting times are longer.
Chlamydia is called silent because there are often no visible symptoms and the
person infected is thus not aware of the danger to him/herself or sexual partners.
An STI can be caught unknowingly from having intercourse with an infected person
and then passed on to any other sexual partners. While some STIs can be treated,
others remain for life.
Ano-genital warts may be the precursor of cervical cancer.
Some STIs may damage the fallopian tubes especially chlamydia and gonorrhoea.
These are tiny tubes inside the woman’s body necessary for the passage of the
fertilised egg to implant in the womb
Yes
No
Yes
Most people think so. What do you think?