Table of Contents
- Overview
- Prevention
Changes in the newborn at birth are a number of changes that an infant's body undergoes to allow it to survive outside the womb and adapt to life in a new environment.
Alternative Names
Birth - changes in the newborn
Information
LUNGS AND CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
While the fetus is in the womb, it "breathes" by exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide through the mother's circulation via the placenta. Most of the blood does not go through the developing baby's lungs. Instead, it travels through the heart and flows throughout the baby's body.
Review Date: 11/02/2009
Reviewed By: Neil K. Kaneshiro, MD, MHA, Clinical Assistant Professor of
Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also
reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org)
