fetus pee & poop

[likethebeer]

This is a question that came up between me & mda. I felt I had to ask mothers: do fetuses pee or poop in the womb?

mda believes that the umbelical cord filters out everything so that the fetus doesn't pee or poop, and that the fetus can't be expected to breathe in waste products.

My idea is that any human body will cast off waste products through digestion, no matter how much good stuff the body is receiving; and that perhaps the womb is filtering out these waste products.

Michael also throws in that perhaps the urination and defection process is what spurs on birth.

I also know that babies as they are being born can aspirate their own shit. So, what goes on? And what happens to the pee & poop?

Comments

copied from a med site

[erisreg.livejournal.com]

The umbilical cord is a narrow, tube-like structure that connects the developing baby (also referred to, in medical terms, as the fetus) to the placenta. The cord is sometimes called the baby’s “supply line” because it delivers the nutrients and oxygen the baby needs for normal growth and development and removes waste products.

The umbilical cord begins to form about five weeks after conception. It becomes progressively longer until about 28 weeks of pregnancy, reaching an average length of 22 inches. As it gets longer, the cord generally twists around itself and becomes coiled.

There are three blood vessels inside the umbilical cord—two arteries and one vein. The vein carries oxygen-rich blood and nutrients from the placenta to the baby, while the two arteries transport waste from the baby back to the placenta (where waste is transferred to the mother’s blood and disposed of by her kidneys). A gelatin-like tissue called Wharton’s jelly cushions and protects these blood vessels.

The missing link!

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

This answers both of our questions! Thank you!

procreation is so weird.

procreation is so weird.

[erisreg.livejournal.com]

heh, yeah because it works even without an owners manual,..;D

Re: procreation is so weird.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

Well, I've got one, but goodness knows if I've ever had the chance to take it on the road :)

ever had the chance

[erisreg.livejournal.com]

hang in there,..:)

Re: ever had the chance

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

thanks xoxoxo

but at this point, I'm just happy for others who get the chance (and the enormous headaches).

[wi-c.livejournal.com]

Now that we've got that settled, we should tackle the meconium, the tar-like first shits of babies.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

Tom G. says it looks like you can spread it on a cracker.

[waning-estrogen.livejournal.com]

hmmm. I don't know the answer, even after reading the explanation above, but the doc did tell me with Amy that when they broke my water, there was meconium in it. she was the reluctant one to face the light of day.

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

I was taught the different colors to look for in amniotic fluid when a woman's water breaks, so I now know that it would be greenish/black in that case.

[mslilly.livejournal.com]

Uh, without research, they do not pee/poop. Catch is that near term, their bodies have matured to the point they can do so, and if stressed, they will poop. That first poop is called meconium, and they can aspirate it (it goes right out into the "water" they have to breathe).

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes--stress. I've been told that a fetus pooping is a sign of "fetal distress," so there you are. The "aspiration" of fetus fecal matter is what got me on my side of the argument in the first place, as I had heard that can happen. Thanks for the input.

jumping in on an old convo

[peradouro.livejournal.com]

The meconium is there because at some point before the child is born the waste system in the body has matured enough to process some of it's own wastes (our poo is brownish/greenish because of dead blood cells). I read someplace, sorry I don't remember where, that the baby does swallow the amniotic fluid and pee it out also.

Re: jumping in on an old convo

[likethebeer.livejournal.com]

Thanks for explaining the meconium. No one had before.