This seems like something I should have learned at some point, but I guess I didn’t.
When does a newborn first breath? I assume it wouldn’t breath while in the womb since it’s submersed in fluid that wouldn’t necessarily be rich in oxygen. Is it the instant it hits the air? If so, how does it know? Knowing that nutrients and sustenance are provided through the umbilical cord, perhaps the lungs “switch on” the minute that’s cut?
Please fight my ignorance.
A fetus will “breath” amniotic fluid in the womb. The breathing reflex starts long before birth, so the baby is just doing what it had been doing, except it breathes air once it’s born. The fetus gets oxygen from the umbilical cord, not the lungs, so although it is “breathing” amniotic fluid, that’s not where the oxygen comes from.
I’ve seen videos of underwater human birth. The baby can stay underwater for a reasonable period of time after birth before they bring it above the surface. I don’t think they can put it back under after it surfaces, regardless of the state of its cord.
It’s traditional to slap the baby’s bottom after birth, to get it to start crying; crying = breathing.
ETA: They probably don’t really do this much anymore.
Yes, they can. The diving reflex (common to all mammals) is present in newborns. That doesn’t mean you can keep them underwater indefinitely, but a baby will not automatically drown.
I was under the impression this was more of a test to make sure the baby was breathing, rather than the jump start for the lungs themselves.
No, nowadays they rub them vigorously with a terrycloth towel or receiving blanket if they don’t cry on their own within a few seconds. If that doesn’t do it, they smack the bottoms of his feet, flick them with a fingernail or rub the breastbone with a knuckle.
Which, IMHO, is stupid. If they wouldn’t cut the cord so damn quick, the poor thing would have a chance to catch his breath (literally) before you start hurting him. The cord will continue to provide him with all the oxygen he needs for several minutes after birth, until the placenta detaches from the uterine wall.
And Dr.Cube is right, making a baby cry is an easy way to make sure he’s breathing. Of course, they have all those shiny stethescopes that could tell them the same thing, but for some reason having pain be a child’s first experience of the world is preferable. :rolleyes:
:smack: I think I’m having a problem with saying what I mean this morning.
What I meant to say, was, once it starts breathing on its own, the oxygen it will get from then on will be from its lungs, and it will no longer be able to use its mother’s oxygen. Therefore, if you put it underwater after it started breathing, it would be identical to putting a newborn who had already had its cord cut underwater. Is this correct?
I thought they also suck the crap out of its mouth and to get it to start breathing more easily?
[hijack]Since you mention it, why do they show the docs (OK, on ER) knuckling the breastbone on someone who has just passed out? Is it just to bring them around again if they aren’t totally out, or is there some other function it’s serving? [/hijack]
Strange, I seem to remember that when both of my sons were born the midwives mentioned that the babies were pinking (showing oxygen rich blood flow) before they cut the cord.
Is the Mammalian Dive Reflex [which whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions use all the time] responsible for/present during a Leboyer bath birth?
As the infant is squeezed through the pelvis, cervix, and birth canal, the pressure on the infant’s chest forces fluid out of the lungs, once the infant emerges from the birth canal, the pressure is released from the chest and the lungs expand taking in air. The neonate breathes.
Putting an infant underwater after she is independent from the mother will cause her to drown. Maybe I don’t understand the question.
I have never heard of a diving reflex. The human inborn reflexes I am familiar with are: rooting, sucking, gag, tonic neck, moro, Babinski, and grasping. These reflexes indicate a healthy nervous system.
All mammals have this reflex from birth, it’s part of the sympathetic nervous system and is involuntary. You may have heard of it when a kid falls into a pond through the ice and the body is able to be revived after a half or to an hour…basically all blood circulation goes from the extremities and only feeds the brain and heart…And it only happens in cold water IIRC.
I should add, I know babies have the reflex, but is it employed by the body at that time?
I don’t know. I don’t know how long or to what level the umbilical cord can supply oxygen once the baby is born. Doesn’t the mother’s body begin to reject that placenta soon after birth (no pun intended)?
In the clips I spoke of, during an underwater birth, the infant was allowed to hang out under the water for about thirty seconds to a minute before they pulled it above the water. It was stated that until that time, it was still getting oxygen from its cord. Once they brought it out, the breathing reflexes kicked in. Perhaps I’m mistaken?
:o Rooting?!?! 
Interesting! I didn’t know this. I should add that stepping, crawling, and blinking are also infant reflexes. Sucking and crawling become a voluntary reflex. A few reflexes are permanent and the rest disappear as the brain develops.
It’s a pain reflex. It helps the doctors determine the level of unconsciousness.
I honestly don’t know much about underwater births.
Rooting happens when the baby’s cheek is touched, she turns her head towards the stroked cheek and sucks.
“Rooting” is the reflex mammalian babies have to look for a nipple to suck on.
Simulpost! unconventional’s explanation is better.
Maybe the underwater birth is possible because of this diving reflex that **Phlosphr **mentioned. It could be the diving reflex in human babies was useful some time in human evolutionary history but has since disappeared except in underwater births. I am speculating because I don’t know anything about underwater births or the diving reflex.