While in the womb, the fetus never uses its lungs to breathe. But after giving birth, instead, she took her first breath as soon as she was born.
How did this miraculous change happen? “We’ve all made these amazing changes,” says David Tingay, a neonatologist at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. “This is one of the fundamental things we need to do,” Australia said.
But how does a child breathe when he is in his mother’s womb without lungs? It may be hard to believe, but fish and humans look remarkably similar after four weeks of gestation.
At first glance, both fetuses look so similar that it is difficult to separate them. But over time, fish replace their folded neck structures with fibrous tissue called gills, but in humans, these same structures become jaws.
After 4 or 5 weeks, the respiratory system begins to develop into lungs. By the end of the eighth week, the basic structure of the lungs is fully formed. Lung tissue begins to grow and mature and is ready for inhalation and exhalation in the ninth month.
But during pregnancy, the baby’s lungs are unable to breathe. It is filled with fluid, which is secreted by the lungs themselves to cushion and protect the developing organ from pressure or damage.
Therefore, the baby’s breathing is a function of the “vascular network” instead, in other words when in the womb we breathe through fluids.
These networks facilitate the delivery of oxygen and nutrients and the elimination of waste. Everything enters and exits through the mother’s bloodstream. Scientists call this “placental respiration.”
Oxygen-rich blood is distributed to the developing organs and tissues at the end of pregnancy. The baby is ready to breathe on his own.
“Birth is probably the only time you want your baby to cry loudly,” says Caracciolo-Fernandez of Baylor University School of Medicine. “You want them to cry as much as possible,” Texas Children’s Hospital said. “Because it really helps open up the lungs.”
As the baby passes through the birth canal, the pressure causes some fluid to be expelled from the lungs. Stress and hormonal changes also stimulate the body to absorb fluids.
And when they are born everything within seconds after birth will indicate that the baby is taking his first breath.
“The fetal lungs act like a big sponge that suddenly fills with air space. That’s what a baby does with his first breath,” Tingay said.
As the first air flows in, it pushes out any remaining fluid in the lungs. It helps open the lungs to fully function. Expels fluid from coughing. Or it is absorbed by the bloodstream and lymphatic system
These measures have prompted doctors and scientists to discourage mothers from choosing caesarean section. Because it doesn’t happen naturally.
To encourage the child to breathe
Some people may have residual fluid in their lungs, causing problems after birth. Including early caesarean section may cause the lungs to not fully develop. Unless authorized by a doctor
All the natural pathways that occur in the womb allow the baby time to form, develop, train and prepare his muscles, tissues, nervous system and digestive system. At the most crucial moment: change placental breathing to lung breathing.
We cannot know for sure how the mermaids in the stories were able to breathe underwater. But now we know a lot more about that. The baby resembles a mermaid in some ways.
Ariel has traded her voice for life on Earth. Likewise, an infant was released with his first breath to live on earth.
Researched and edited by Witit Borompichaichartkul
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/premium/article/mermaids-womb-placenta-uterus-breath-air
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