Type of pain relief during labour that is usually given as injections. They relieve pain without causing loss of consciousness.

Type of pain relief during labour that is injected and cause numbness in a very small area.

Type of pain that is usually called epidural blocks, are the most commonly used form of pain relief. Epidural blocks cause a complete loss of sensation below the point in the spine where the pain-relieving drug is injected.

Type of pain relief that is relieves pain and induces unconsciousness.

The cervix widens sufficiently to allow the infant’s head to pass into the birth canal

The flattening of the cervix

A birth complication that is an insufficiency of oxygen for the infant

Delivery of the child through an
incision in the mother’s abdomen.

Term for any baby born with a weight
below 2,500 grams (5.5 pounds)

Term for any baby born with a
weight below 1,500 grams (3.3 pounds).

Term for any baby born with a
weight below 1,000 grams (2.2 pounds).

Any baby born before 38 weeks of gestation

An infant who weighs less than is normal for the number of weeks of gestation completed

A problem frequently found in
infants born more than 6 weeks before term, in which the infant’s
lungs lack a chemical (surfactant) needed to keep air sacs inflated. A problem frequently found in
infants born more than 6 weeks before term, in which the infant’s
lungs lack a chemical (surfactant) needed to keep air sacs inflated.

Physical responses triggered involuntarily by specific stimuli

Reflexes that are essential to the infant’s survival but that disappear in the first year of life (e.g., sucking).

Collection of reflexes seen in young infants that gradually disappear during the first year of life, including the Moro and Babinski reflexes.

The reflex that causes infants to extend their legs, arms, and fingers, arch the back, and draw back the head when startled

A reflex found in very young infants that causes them to splay out their toes in response to a stroke on the bottom of the foot.

A reflex where a baby turns his head to one side when he's on his back.

A reflex where the baby will make step-like
motions, alternating feet as in walking when you hold him under his arms with feet just touching a floor or other flat surface.

A reflex where the baby turns his head toward the touch, opens mouth, and makes sucking movements when you stroke baby’s cheek with finger or nipple.

A reflex where a baby will make a strong
fist around your finger when you stroke the baby’s palm with your finger.

The view that several factors interact to
influence development.

The process of taking in raw information through the senses

The attribution of meaning to sensory information

A pattern where development proceeds from the head downward

A pattern where development proceeds from the trunk outward

The automatic reduction in the strength or vigor of a response to a repeated stimulus.

Inborn predispositions that form the foundations of personality.

The unexpected death of an infant who otherwise appears healthy