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KiwiL 
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Location: Wellington, NZ
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 Topic: Why? (random question for the day!)
Posted: 23 June 2008 at 6:39pm |
When a baby engages, and is upside down in the womb, why does all the blood not run to his head?
I mean, kids can't stand on their heads without going red in the face.... why does this not happen to bubbas?
My mum always told me my head would explode if I stood on my head too long! (Thanks Mum!)   
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peanut butter
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Posted: 23 June 2008 at 6:44pm |
yeah but have you seen how red a newborn is when they come out 
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fire_engine
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Posted: 23 June 2008 at 7:09pm |
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All I know is that babies are WEIRD! I'd be keen to know why it doesn't get perpetual head injuries from being engaged and whacked on my pelvis everytime I move.
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Maya
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Posted: 23 June 2008 at 7:36pm |
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I guess all the fluid in there cushions them...
Something I hadn't really thought about tho!
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VannesaD
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Posted: 23 June 2008 at 7:38pm |
Now there's a curly question .. something I've never thought about .. and now I'll probably never stop thinking about it until I find the answer!
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emz
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Posted: 23 June 2008 at 8:11pm |
Cos they can! Just like one little cell can turn into a beautiful wee baby  Or why after thousands of years, evolution has still not made a foolproof way of keeping a baby safe and being birthed easily and safely. Strange process all in all really.
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MrsMojo
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Posted: 23 June 2008 at 8:15pm |
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Hmmm, could be something to do with the womb being a gravity free environment, same way that pregnant women feel like light weights when they're in the pool - I don't know actually, I'm just making it up but it sounds good. If someone has an oxygen tank and snorkel mask and wants to test the theory maybe they could see whether the blood rushes to their head if they do a prolonged handstand in the swimming pool.
Edited by MrsMojo
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LittleBug
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Posted: 23 June 2008 at 9:04pm |
I think it's to do with oxygen saturation... it's hard to breathe when you are upside down, and the pressure of all the blood being in your head and stuff too... pressure would be less when you are surrounded in fluid and you don't have to worry about breathing when all your oxygen comes from Mummy  But I would be interested to hear a proper answer!!
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aussiegirl
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Posted: 24 June 2008 at 9:06am |
My Dh often asks the same thing! 
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Kelpa
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Posted: 24 June 2008 at 9:10am |
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Yup...I asked this to DH the other day..dont get it.
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BessieBear
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Posted: 24 June 2008 at 11:03am |
Lol no idea it's a bit like when you have a water birth baby knows not to breathe till he reaches the air.
Just something I was thinking about....Where do your ovaries go when you prgnant???
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Sarah Mum to, Boy 07/2008, Girl 03/2010, Boy 05/2012, Angel 07/08/2014 
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fire_engine
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Posted: 24 June 2008 at 11:18am |
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Have emailed my paediatrician sister to see if she knows why blood doesn't rush to the head.
My ovaries are just squished up - they checked them out when I had my ultrasounds.
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Helen21
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Posted: 24 June 2008 at 11:34am |
I don't even know where my stomach goes in the later stages of pgy, I means there's not that much room left in there!
I thought the womb was kind of like the moon(gravity and oxygen wise) and the umbilical cord is the connecting the baby to the oxygen tank, but I guess I've never seen anyone stand on their head on the moon though so I'm not sure that ideas works.
.....I might need to do a trip to the pool to stand on my head for a while...
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blondy
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Posted: 24 June 2008 at 12:15pm |
I have no idea about blood not rushing to the head, but can explain why waterbirths work, sarahbetha - the baby is born with an innate 'dive reflex' so when water touches the face, the baby automatically doesn't breathe in. So when the baby comes out of the amniotic fluid into water, it won't breathe in until air touches the face. (which is why the whole delivery has to take place either above or below water).
I was wondering if blood not rushing to the head had something to do with the lungs not being fully inflated...?
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fire_engine
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Posted: 24 June 2008 at 12:29pm |
and is blood flow in utero controlled through the placenta so that's why the normal rules don't apply?
my stomach is now directly below my throat as evidenced by frequent reflux and vomitting. my lungs have shrunk to the size of walnuts (maybe to make room for my ovaries )
the body is a weird and wonderful thing!
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Roksana
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Posted: 24 June 2008 at 1:15pm |
I though its becuase the Umbilical cord supplies al that to baby until birth, so the position of the baby makes no difference.....???? 
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blondy
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Posted: 24 June 2008 at 1:51pm |
and now that I think about it, there is almost no blood flow to the baby's lungs at all in utero (i.e. only 2 of the 4 chambers of the heart are really working to pump blood around the body - hence the 2 'holes' that have to close over once the baby is born)...
Maybe once the lungs expand, and are upside down, they put pressure on the blood vessels returning blood from the head to the heart, so blood accumulates in the head? 
Or I could just be totally wrong and rambling about nothing! Lol
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fire_engine
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Posted: 24 June 2008 at 2:09pm |
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my BIL's not helpful response was that it does all pool in the head and that's why babies have big heads! I reckon it's something to do with blood flow being mediated through the placenta.
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Mum to two wee boys
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Why? (random question for the day!)
