How are babies born?

When a man and a woman have sex, the erect penis of the male is inserted into the vagina of the female. The sperm cells of the male are ejaculated into the vagina of the female. If an egg cell has been released in the ovary at that time, it may get fertilized by the sperm and the woman may become pregnant, The baby develops in the woman’s uterus for about 40 weeks, till it is developed enough to be born. Usually, babies are born healthy, but sometimes they may be born with a disability.

How does fertilization occur ?

After a man and woman have had sex, about 300 million sperm cells are present in the woman’s vagina. The sperms swim forward with the help of their tails with a common air: to fertilize the egg cell. The egg cell ripens in the ovary of a woman only once a month. Certain hormones then trigger ‘ovulation’, in which the egg cell is released from the ovary in the fallopian tube. Fertilization occurs if the egg cell meets a sperm. Doctors assume that after ovulation, an egg cell can be fertilized for a maximum of 12-24 hours. A single sperm cell is enough to fertilize the egg cell.

What happens to the fertilized egg cell?

A new life can start with the fusion of the sperm and the egg, which contains the genetic information of the father and the mother in equal parts. On the way through the fallopian tube, the egg cell divides several times. It finally gets lodged in the mucous membranes of the uterus, a special hollow muscle. This has a good blood supply and provides the egg cell with nutrients. After it is fixed in the uterus, the egg cell is called an embryo and development starts immediately.