I've heard that if you give birth in water the baby can actually breathe in the water. is that true it sounds weird to me, i find it hard to believe.
2006-08-01 23:52:57 · 47 answers · asked by stupid 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
No, of course not!! Before a baby is born, she/he doesn't *need* to breathe; the mother is breathing for the baby and passing oxygen to her/him via the placenta. It is the air hitting the baby's face that causes the baby to take her/his first breath, so a baby who is born underwater *won't* breathe until taken up out of the water. And the umbilical cord will keep working, as well, until exposed to air (or cut, obviously).
2006-08-02 01:31:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, newborns cannot breathe underwater, just as when the baby is older they won't be able to breathe underwater either. Basically, what my pediatrician said some babies do in water is a seal technique where they stop breathing while underwater, but they will take a breath when you bring them up again. But this is something you don't want to do with your baby either.
2006-08-01 23:58:16 · answer #2 · answered by mom of girls 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No.....baby's don't have gills. :-)
You CAN give birth in water.....I've done it twice. The baby comes out under the water and is FINE. It's a very gentle and peaceful transition for them. Water babies are typically quite calm and don't cry much.
The baby doesn't "breathe in the water." The baby is still attached to the placenta and is getting oxygen through the cord when he is born. The baby will not take his first breath until the air touches his face. So if they come out into the water, they don't take their first breath and expand their lungs right away. The cord takes care of them while you slowly and gently raise them to the surface.
2006-08-02 00:27:42 · answer #3 · answered by momma2mingbu 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No babies can not breath underwater. However, there is a new medical treatment that doctors have been using on premies that uses a gel like substance that fills the lungs of the babies that they breath instead of air. the gel is very, very rich in oxygen and allows the babies to survive and grow without putting undo stress on their underdeveloped hearts.........
taken from Readers Digest "Miracle Girl":
Dr. Thomas Shaffer of Temple University in Philadelphia was called in to assist Dr. Jay Greenspan, a colleague at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. They huddled to determine a course of action. Mancini learned about an experimental process called liquid ventilation that Shaffer and Greenspan were working on. The distraught mother was told about a breathable fluid that could help ease her child's respiratory distress. A doctor compared it to the liquid featured in the movie The Abyss -- where a breathable liquid lets the hero visit with aliens at crushing ocean depths.
2006-08-01 23:59:32 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no not true at all
Waterbirth concerns many people. One common fear is that the baby will drown if born into water. The baby born into water has a diving reflex that helps prevents the inhalation of water into its lungs. Once the baby is exposed to air the receptors in the baby’s face triggers the baby’s breathing. Because of these factors, once the baby is born into water it should be brought gently to the surface and the baby’s face must not be resubmerged under the water.
2006-08-01 23:55:33 · answer #5 · answered by nastaany1 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No but if you give birth in a pool your baby will be safe under water until it takes it's first breath of air as this is when the lungs start to work as ours do. Don't try putting your baby in the pool whatever you do.
2006-08-01 23:56:45 · answer #6 · answered by Gypsie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, yes i believe it is correct... If newborns were unable to do so the risk of them being born in a water bath would be much greater. I dont think it lasts that long though maybe until there about 1 month or so...
I'm sure i watched it on a documentary, you know the one with the professor who studies children..
2006-08-02 00:55:48 · answer #7 · answered by Katy 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
lol can you breath underwater??? no, so therefore why would another human being be able to breath underwater, if you had a child under water the chance of it living would be very slim, if you breath in water you drown it doesn't work no matter where your born you can't deliever a child underwater maybe in water but not under water and if you did that would be murder to the child good luck hun!
2006-08-02 00:01:40 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
When a baby is in your stomach it is surrounded by a fluid called amniotic fluid. They do not breathe this fluid, they get their oxygen through blood transported through the umbilical chord. So, I'd imagine by the time they were born and the placenta (that is attached to the umbilical chord) is severed they would need oxygen and could not breathe underwater. I'm just theorizing here.
2006-08-01 23:57:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
After birth, as long as the baby is connected to mother's womb through umblical cord it doesn't need lungs to breath. But as soon as the cord is cut, the baby needs to cry and for that it needs to expell all the water (amniotic fluid) from its lungs.
So the answer is.... NO THE BABY CANNOT BREATH UNDERWATER
2006-08-02 00:12:12 · answer #10 · answered by sighspy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋