Evolutionary Age Dictionary

Very often, when we talk about pregnancy, breastfeeding and the puerperium, some medical terms are used indiscriminately, almost as if they were synonyms; in reality, each of these words has a very specific meaning. According to the stage of the evolutionary process, for example, we will speak of zygote, embryo, fetus, newborn, child and adolescent.

The following list helps us to shed some light on these terms and to use them in the most appropriate way.

Intrauterine phase

. Zygote: from fertilization to the end of the second week . Embryo: from the third week to the end of the eighth week, it therefore lasts 56 days . Fetus: runs from the end of the embryonic period until birth

Extrauterine phase

. Newborn: up to 28 days of life . Infant: from four weeks to one year of life

. Early childhood:

(little child)

from 1 to 24 months of life . Second childhood: from 2 to 6 years . Third childhood: from 6 years until the onset of puberty . Puberty and Adolescence: from the appearance of sexual characteristics up to about 22 years.