Belly Buttons

[4getmenot]

Ok I may sound stupid here but hey whats new :-) I know baby get born the umbilical cord gets cut and it becomes the belly button, but what part does it play inside the mummys tummy? whats it attached too? does the rest come out?? I could look up pictures etc on google but I'd like it in a parents terms, come on redcrx hit me with it

[888sally888]

Right the mummys food gets kind of cleansed by the placenta which then passes goodies down the tube into the sprog!!

[Lakitu]

Isn't it attached to the placenta? I don't know if it just falls off but the idea of it is giving me the willies

[888sally888]

lol - getting the willies caused the problem in the 1st place!!

[redcrx]

it attaches the baby to the placenta which is what sends all the blood and nutrients to baby and takes the waste away.

The placenta is on the wall of the amniotic sac and when baby is born the placenta and sac are 'born' afterwards. Thats the afterbirth. So once baby is born you still get more contractions and then give birth to the sac. This can take an hour or so or it can be sped up be means of an injection given to the mother.

The sac is checked afterwards by a midwife to ensure it has all come away, as any left inside mum can cause infection and heavy bleeding.

When baby is born, their first deep breath causes a valve in their lungs to close, this valve leads to the umbilical cord and once sealed the cord will just die off. Thats why it goes black and shrivels before falling off leaving a nice belly button.

[888sally888]

Wow red - you are so much cleverer than me!!

[4getmenot]

so they breath through the belly button when in your tummy?

[redcrx]

IF SQUEAMISH DO NOT CLICK ON THIS LINK

PHOTO OF PLACENTA http://www.operationalmedicine.org/Videos/Plac entaInspect250.jpg

[Lakitu]

Why did I have to click :(

[888sally888]

OMG I had to look - eugh I have had 2 of those in my lifetime - ooooooooooooooooh yuk!!!!!!!!

[natalie_1982]

Well they don't breathe asuch, but they get the oxygen they need from their mother's blood supply via the umbilical cord into their belly.

[redcrx]

they dont breath as such. The lung are not inflated until born. But the oxygen and everything else they need comes via the blood supply through the placenta and umbilical cord.

In early pregnancy the babies nutrients are in its egg sack, the placenta doesnt take over until about 12 weeks which is why a lot of mums suffer sickness until this point.

The placenta is very clever and can filter out a lot of things that could be harmful to baby.

[redcrx]

i knew youd all look!

I was asked if i wanted to look at mine after birth. Not a chance!

Oh and 4get, some women choose to keep the placenta and eat it, its supposed to be a bit like liver and is full of nutrients.

[888sally888]

I would rather eat my eyeballs!!

[ethandron]

they don't exactly 'breathe' through it. blood with oxygen and all the other nutrients needed for the baby to survivie passes to the baby through the umbilicle chord from the mum. that's why pregnant ladies have to steer clear of certain foods and drinks, because it would pass to the baby and could cause problems.

[redcrx]

4get, remember them sarnies you had when you came to visit baby CRX.............................................

[4getmenot]

oh my god so after all that pushing baby out you gotta get rid of that. I knew you get afterbirth but that looks horrible. The reason I asked was because I read in paper other day of a woman going full term with a baby growing in her ovary and they didnt know till she had Caesarean but I wondered where did the umbilical cord come is the sack attached to something, would it have been able to form in the ovary??

[4getmenot]

yer I know redcrx and some people bury them in the garden

[natalie_1982]

Hmmm, perhaps I won't have jam on toast for brekkie afterall.

[888sally888]

I was going to have a strawberry smoothie - even worse!!

[Ethel]

Hugh Fearnley-wassisname cooked placenta and ate it on a tv programme

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/10194 4.stm


Most mammals do eat the placenta - it not only disposes of evidence of a recent birth to predators, but helps the mother gain some much needed nutrition.