Dazzler

Dumb a$$ question I know, but a question just raised by my team at work (all males obviously!).

More accurately, how do babies survive in the womb - How do they get oxygen?

The can't breathe as we do, until they are delivered so what's the score?

Someone teach me school boy biology please!

ajm

They get oxygen passed to them from the mother's blood to their blood via the placenta.

fast bloke

You can see clearly how they do it from this picture

ajm

(this was in response to a question "How do they know when to breath?" that has since been deleted.... possibly due to embarrassment of the poster! )

Its a reflex. Before they are born their body doesn't have the urge to breath because its blood is well oxygenated. On being born the oxygen source is removed and the urgency to breath builds up (like the urge you get holding your breath). Blood is redirected towards the lungs and the baby will cough up any fluid and start to take the first few breaths to inflate the lungs.

sti-04!!

GrahameS

Yes it was.. that was me.. I had a sudden thought that i'd been very stupid after i saw the scuba diver picture..

But having read your reply it wasnt as stupid as i thought (i dont think)..

Edit to re add what ajm replied to: How do they know when they pop out that they need to start breathing, or are they trying to breathe before they come out but cant. I know nothing about babies & birth etc.

Hanslow

So does that mean that potentially a human could be submersed in oxygenated liquid and yet still breathe? I'm sure there was a sci-fi film where they filled a capsule with liquid that entered the lungs and allowed breathing for prolonged space flight. Can't remember the film though.

Edit : Capsule as in the sort that is big enough for a human to be contained in, not a paracetamol sized one

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

The Abyss and yes in theory you can 'drown' providing you can get enough oxygen into your blood stream via your lungs.

edit to add. this is being looked at to help with burns victims where the lungs have been burnt through smoke inhalation.

TonyG

Yes, you can 'breathe' oxygenated fluid - it's been done experimentally with mice IIRC. It's also, as you say, been used in various sci-fi films etc - two that spring immediately to mind are "The Abyss" where it was used in a diving suit to counter the pressure of a very deep dive, and the TV series UFO (the aliens breathed a green liquid during spaceflight)

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Somebody must have fell asleep during their 1st year Biology lesson

Dazzler

Ignore me!

Like the responses so far, cheers!

Bubba po

ajm, as an aside which you probably already know about, it's not the lack of oxygen in the blood that triggers the breathing response but the build up of carbon dioxide. It's an odd fact that if you have a person breathing the same air in and out through a chemical that removes the carbon dioxide, they will continue breathing happily with no discomfort until they faint through oxygen deficiency.

ajm

Yes, good point.... in a low oxygen environment its quite easy to get hypoxia without knowing it. Using inert gas fire extinguishers in an enlosed space for example.... or, as you say, inadvertantly re-breathing whilst bubbling through sodium hydroxide!

PeteT

..and someone else must have FALLEN asleep during their first year English lesson

Freak

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

Ok, numptie alert required....so whats the umbilical cord for then??

I thought that was what was used to deliver oxygenated blood to the baby, hence its need not to breathe

Bubba po

I think the term the young people use is "pwned".

Bubba po

Are you a practising feejit or are you fully qualified, Lumy?

At one end of the umbilical cord is a mass of blood vessels and other tissues called the placenta, which is intimately associated with, but not directly connected to, the lining of the womb. They are in such a close association and over so large a surface area, that sufficient oxygen for the foetus's needs can diffuse into the placenta directly from the Mother's blood vessels. At the other end of the umbilical cord is a baby. <----Justified.

Luminous

iTrader: (3)

God damn!! So I was not that far out after all

Thanks Bubba

(can you tell that I opted out of Biology at school )

lpski1

edited for accuracy