Table 1 |
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Description of stages of foetal growth by different groups |
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MONTH |
YOUNG WOMEN 1a |
OLDER WOMEN 1b |
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"Oh, I don't have any idea about that." (JKW1-1) |
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1 |
"It looks like a piece of meat." (DYWI-6) |
"It is in the semen stage" (JKOWFG-1) "It will remain water for one month before it will turn into blood." (MOWFG-1) "It is just like water." (JKOWI-6) |
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2 |
"It has a grey colour."(DYWI-6) |
"It is in a liquid stage" (JKOWFG-1) "It appears like a clot." (JKOWI-6) |
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3 |
"It looks like a lizard."(DYWI-6) "It looks like pus....The baby is kicking on one side...It moves but the movement is not powerful." (DYW1-2) "It is in a blood-like state." (DYWI-4) |
"It is in a clot form." (JKOWFG-1) (JKOWI-2) "If the foetus is a female, it looks like a tortoise. If it is a male, it looks like a lizard." (JKOWFG-1) |
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4 |
"It is nearly mature"(DYWI-6) "Limbs form" (JKYWI-4) "From 4–6 months it kicks from all directions" (DYW1-2) |
"It starts kicking at four months" (JKOWFG-1) "At four months it will no longer be blood or a piece of meat. It will be a human being. You will know whether the baby will be a boy or a girl." (MOWFG-1) "At four months it is just like a bulk of blood." (JKOWI-2) "Limbs will start to appear." (JKOWI-6) |
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5 |
"I think it stays like that until 5–7 months. Then God breaks it into two pieces and reconstructs it again"(DYWI-6) "From five to six months, all features of a human being are developed.....but nine months is the time that the baby is fully matured." (JKYWI-4) |
"When the baby has been five months in the stomach, the stomach will shake." (MOWFG-1) |
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6 |
"It looks like a piece of meat."(JKYWI-4) |
"Within six months the baby is close to a human being." (JKOWFG-1) (JKOWI-2) "At six months the stomach will shake again" (MOWFG-1) |
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8 |
"It is fully matured in all aspects"(DYWI-6) |
"At eight or nine months the stomach will shake and you will know that God's time has come for you to deliver." (MOWFG-1) |
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9 |
"It is now a complete human being. At this stage, if you feel hungry, you see the baby start moving"(DYWI-6) |
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MONTH |
ADOLESCENTS 1c |
MEN 1d |
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"Pregnancy is never steady.. it has stages, from semen to blood clot, until it departs from there, that will equal to 120 days." (JKMFG-4) |
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1 |
"It looks like a piece of meat" (DAFG-1) "It appears like a blood clot" (JAFG-3) |
"The pregnancy is just semen" (JJMFG-1) "At 7 days, pregnancy is a clot" (JKMFG-3) |
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2 |
"Clot" (DAFG-1) |
"Blood clot" (JJMFG-1) "It begins to have human shape." (JKMFG-3) |
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3 |
"I don't know." (DAFG-1) "It then looks like a small frog" (JAFG-3) |
"It is not at a human stage, it is like blood." (JKMFG-3) |
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4 |
"By then it is an egg." (DAFG-1) |
"The blood clot becomes firm." (JJMFG-1) "I cannot tell you anything about that". I heard women saying that there is movement at four months, but I don't know.(JKMFG-2) "At four months, things come together." (JKMFG-3) |
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5 |
"It is about to become a human being." (DAFG-1) |
"A piece of meat" (JJMFG-1) "Limbs are forming" (JKMFG-3) "At this stage it is now human." (JKMFG-3) |
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6 |
"It starts moving" (DAFG-1) |
"Limbs are forming" (JKMFG-3) "It is now a complete human being" (JKMFG-3) |
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7 8 9 |
"At seven months it is mature" (JKMFG-3) "It starts having limbs" (JJMFG-1) "At 7 months there is a soul in the body, but at 8 months the soul is suspended from the body. By 9 months it reunites with the body again" (JJMFG-1) "It turns into a human being" (JAFG-3) |
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Brabin et al. Malaria Journal 2009 8:25 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-8-25 |
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