Author: Glossary

A shapeless fetal anomaly, scarcely recognizable as a fetus.  

An infrequently used synonym for a teratogen, i.e., a substance that damages a developing fetus.  

A mousy odor in the breath of persons with severe liver impairment.  

Radiography of the fetus in utero. This procedure has been virtually replaced by ultrasound.  

To the fetus and the chorion, or chorionic membrane, of the placenta.  

The ability of a fetus to survive outside of the womb. Historically, a fetus was considered to be capable of living at the end of gestational week 20 when the mother had felt fetal movement (quickening) and the fetal heart tones could be auscultated with a fetoscope. In actuality, even with prompt and intensive neonatal…

A controversial experimental technique in which tissue from a dead fetus, severed umbilical cord, or placenta is grafted into a patient in an attempt to treat or cure disease.  

The process of obtaining a small amount of blood from the fetal scalp for pH testing. When the monitor recording suggests fetal compromise during labor, the physician or nurse-midwife may elect to perform this procedure. The normal finding for fetal pH is at or above 7.25. Findings between 7.20 and 7.24 indicate a preacidotic state;…

In human gestation the stage of prenatal development beginning after the eighth week and ending at birth.  

The controversial hypothesis that chronic adult diseases, e.g., hypertension, result from undernutrition of the fetus.