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The fetal circulation is composed of the placenta, umbilical blood vessels encapsulated by the umbilical cord, heart and systemic blood vessels. A major difference between the fetal circulation and postnatal circulation is that the lungs are not used during the fetal stage resulting in the presence of shunts to move oxygenated blood and ...
The placenta also provides a reservoir of blood for the fetus, delivering blood to it in case of hypotension and vice versa, comparable to a capacitor. [48] Ultrasound image of human placenta and umbilical cord (color Doppler rendering) with central cord insertion and three umbilical vessels, at 20 weeks of pregnancy
The placenta also produces human placental lactogen (hPL), which stimulates maternal lipolysis and fatty acid metabolism. As a result, this conserves blood glucose for use by the fetus. It can also decrease maternal tissue sensitivity to insulin, resulting in gestational diabetes. [4]
Normally the maternal circulation and the fetal circulation are kept from direct contact with each other, with gas and nutrient exchange taking place across a membrane in the placenta made of two layers, the syncytiotrophoblast and the cytotrophoblast. Fetal-maternal haemorrhage occurs when this membrane ceases to function as a barrier and ...
The vein carries oxygenated blood from the placenta to the baby and the arteries carry deoxygenated blood from the baby to the placenta. In approximately 1% of pregnancies there are only two vessels —usually a single vein and single artery. In about 75% of those cases, the baby is entirely normal and healthy.
During pregnancy, the mother's circulatory system delivers oxygen and nutrients to the fetus and carries away nutrient-depleted blood enriched with carbon dioxide. The maternal and fetal blood circulations are separate and the exchange of molecules occurs through the placenta, in a region called intervillous space which is located in between ...
My OB-GYN continued checking my blood work, but the levels of my hCG, a hormone secreted by the placenta during pregnancy, remained elevated, despite the fact that I was no longer pregnant. My ...
If the blood sample was obtained at the site close to the placenta, a fetal blood confirmation test should be done to ensure no mixing of fetal and maternal blood occurred before the diagnostic tests are done on the blood. Fetal red blood cells (RBC) are usually bigger than maternal RBCs, and the average volume of RBCs, the mean corpuscular ...