# Newborn baby ca-ca?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newborn-baby-ca-ca/57555>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 11, 2001, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newborn-baby-ca-ca/57555 "2001-03-11T17:13:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newborn-baby-ca-ca/57555/1 "2001-03-11T17:13:14Z")

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During and soon after birth, a baby will pass a bowel movement (the Mericomium, I believe its called).  
Where does this…shit…come from, if the baby has never yet ingested anything?

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**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newborn-baby-ca-ca/57555/2 "2001-03-11T17:20:53Z")

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The baby _has_ injested something - he’s swallowed amniotic fluid in the womb. That forms the bulk of the meconium. The memorable color and smell, on the other hand, come from decayed red blood cells, which have been dying off for months. Eeew.

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**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newborn-baby-ca-ca/57555/3 "2001-03-11T19:30:33Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by flodnak The memorable color and smell

I’ve always been fascinated by the **texture**

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**Author:** ![weapons\_grade\_bullonium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c68b51/32.png) [@weapons\_grade\_bullonium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weapons_grade_bullonium)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newborn-baby-ca-ca/57555/4 "2001-03-11T20:16:26Z")

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For years, I thought I’d never hear of a new “bodily fluid”, but now I have, and I can say it was worth the wait.

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**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2001, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/newborn-baby-ca-ca/57555/5 "2001-03-11T20:39:34Z")

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Mecomium is a lot of things, but fluid it isn’t.