What is the prenatal development stage called from 9 weeks after conception to birth?

What is the prenatal development stage called from 9 weeks after conception to birth?

• A. Fetus
• B. Embryo
• C. Zygote
• D. Morula

Answer: (A)

Late prenatal development is called the fetal period, which begins around the ninth week after conception and continues to birth. By this time, the major body structures are formed during the embryonic period, and the focus shifts to growth and maturation of organs and systems. That’s why the stage from about nine weeks onward is described as the fetus. The other terms refer to earlier stages: a zygote is the fertilized egg from conception through implantation in the first couple of weeks; a morula is an early solid cluster of cells in the very early days after fertilization; an embryo covers from fertilization up to roughly the end of the eighth week, after which the fetal period begins.

Late prenatal development is called the fetal period, which begins around the ninth week after conception and continues to birth. By this time, the major body structures are formed during the embryonic period, and the focus shifts to growth and maturation of organs and systems. That’s why the stage from about nine weeks onward is described as the fetus.

The other terms refer to earlier stages: a zygote is the fertilized egg from conception through implantation in the first couple of weeks; a morula is an early solid cluster of cells in the very early days after fertilization; an embryo covers from fertilization up to roughly the end of the eighth week, after which the fetal period begins.