Eli5. After the women gives birth, does the stomach deflate like a ballon or something?

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This sounds so stupid and im well aware. So the baby is in the stomach and after it leaves the skin cant magically shrink right back to size again. So its like if you put a watermellon in a bag. Then took out the watermellon. You still have the huge bag (stomach). So is it like a deflated ballon or is it like some magic.

In: Biology

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Elastin within the skin gives it a ‘stretchy’ quality, if you are young and a healthy weight to carry a baby (not too thin) it typically ‘deflates’ back (an example of elastic-deformation) the same way an elastic band would – rather than the way a plastic bag would.

If you are on the thin side, have twins, or just a big ol’ baby then you can expect some loose skin, but this is normal for a woman who has given birth. The baby does not create a cavity or anything of the sort where the space forever lives, it just stretches an already existing cavity (uterus) which can return to the same size. You can think of it like a larger version of a bladder if that makes more sense

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