Fetal states while the baby is still in the womb, how things are different from inside and out. "Mystery of a Hidden Life"

The article entitled,"The mystery of fetal life: Secrets from the womb" (Pekkanen, 2001) starts out with a brief discussion about an embryo's development (e.g. rapid cell division, cell differentiation, development of organs) capabilities (e.g. movement of arms/legs, swallowing, awareness, sending hormonal signals) and threats (e.g. mother's emotions, health and behaviors, environmental factors) while in the mother's uterus. The importance of positive prenatal development to not only fetal life, but also to …

…quiet, healthy environment for the prenatal development of their child. This article does a good job addressing a wide variety of factors that do or are expected to negatively affect prenatal development. Some of the factors are one's that are generally not discussed (e.g. over-stimulation, toxoplasmosis from litter boxes, etc.). References: Pekkanen, J. (2001). The mystery of fetal life: Secrets of the womb. Current, pp. 20-29. Retrieved June 15, 2005, from The McGraw-Hill Companies' World Wide Web.