How Your Life Began
Exhibit [Return to listing page]
People of all cultures and traditions share the amazing experience of human reproduction and birth. In this exhibit, learn about one of the great miracles and mysteries of cell biology: how your life began from a single cell.
Here, models and displays show the anatomy of the male and female reproductive systems. Visitors can find questions and answers about the menstrual cycle, and they can observe photographs and actual specimens that illustrate the growth of a human embryo.
A series of life-size models show how the baby emerges from the birth canal in a normal delivery. Learn about the Apgar scale for evaluating newborns, and feel heart rhythms from various stages of fetal development.
In a separate viewing area, visitors can watch four short videos. The first shows fetal growth, and the others tell stories of birth: a cesarean section and a vaginal delivery in a hospital setting, and a midwife-assisted birth in a Mexico home.
