The A-Z of pregnancy: O-U

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Ovaries
If your unborn baby is a girl, at birth her ovaries will already hold all the eggs her body will ever produce.

Placenta
Your baby's life support system: this transfers nutrients and oxygen to your baby via the umbilical cord during the pregnancy and processes his waste products.

Quickening
You'll notice your baby's first movements by around week 18: even earlier if it's not your first. Starting as a flutter, they graduate into hard kicks and somersaults!

Reflexes
As early as week five of your pregnancy, your baby's developing reflexes, from those first tiny kicks to more sophisticated frowns and grimaces. By week 32 of your pregnancy, your baby's suck-and-swallow reflex, which is vital for survival, is perfected.

Surfactant
Your baby's lungs manufacture this substance towards the end of pregnancy. It covers the inner lining of the air sacs in his lungs and allows them to expand as your little one breathes.

Thumb-sucking
A baby frequently touches his face because the skin is very sensitive, which may be why his thumb eventually finds his mouth. Many ultrasound scans reveal babies sucking their thumbs.

Umbilical cord
This is your baby's lifeline. Around 2ft long, it connects them to the placenta and contains two arteries and a vein through which they receive oxygen and nutrients.

Read on for more: V-Z of pregnancy