Breathing is to get oxygen into the lungs, and then into the bloodstream. The woman breathes, and the oxygen, as well as all the nutrients from what she eats, is from her blood – that is then transferred into the placenta which passes that on to the growing fetus. Fetuses don’t have working lungs until very late in the pregnancy, which is why premies often don’t breathe well. It’s one of the last systems to be completely set up. A fetus does ‘practice’ breathing, by hiccuping, as the diaphragm and other muscles, develop.
They get all the oxygen they need through their belly buttons!!!
Blood from the baby flows out through the belly button, along the umbilical chord, around the placenta, where it comes in close contact with the mum’s blood.
The two systems swap all sorts of things, with waste materials going out into the mum’s blood, and food and oxygen coming in to the babies blood.
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