What happens as soon as a young mother becomes pregnant?
As soon as a young mother becomes pregnant, one ovum has come off and is impregnated, and she becomes a mother. The first thing that happens is the cells begin to divide and multiply rapidly, reaching about 16 to 32 cells before body-cell development begins.
Les explains that when the female of the species prepares for reproduction, her body builds all of these potential ovum, or seeds, which remain only that until they are impregnated from an outside source, normally from the father. As soon as the young mother becomes pregnant, one of these ovum has come off and is impregnated, and she becomes a mother. The first thing that happens is that these cells begin to divide and multiply rapidly until there are about 16 to 32 cells—two, four, eight, and so on. Then, at about 32 and sometimes at 64, that process of cell division and multiplication stops in the developing embryo, and the body cells begin to develop—the extremities, fingers, feet, legs, and all that—forming the little human body.