What is the process called when a zygote undergoes mitosis?

The process of a zygote undergoing mitosis is referred to as cleavage. This is the stage immediately following fertilization, where the one-cell zygote begins to divide into multiple cells through a series of rapid mitotic divisions. During cleavage, the zygote transforms into a multicellular structure called a blastula while undergoing cell division without significant growth in size, which is essential for the subsequent stages of development.

Gestation refers to the period of development of an embryo or fetus within the womb, typically encompassing all the stages from fertilization to birth, but it is not specifically about the division process itself. Fertilization is the initial process where sperm and egg unite to form a zygote, while segmentation is primarily a term related to the division and organization of cells in some organisms, but in this context, it is not the term traditionally used to describe the mitotic division of the zygote.