Cord Blood Stem Cells Information

how umbilical cord functions?

what is the connection between mother, placenta, umbilical cord and fetus. i mean do nutrients and oxygen diffuse into the placenta through uterine wall and the placenta forms blood and pumps it into the umbilical cord directly into the fetus' artery? because the blood cannot go direct from mother into fetus, because fetus has low risk of contracting blood diseases (like aids and hep) from mother. also is stuff from umbilical cord one way, or does it also remove co2 and waste. also, seeing as a fetus is entirely oxygenated through its blood, without use of lungs, can this possibly be done with full grown humans. can a human survive without lung function through purely intervenous oxygenation?

Public Comments

1. Your first paragraph is right - the nutrients and oxygen diffuse into the placenta through the uterine wall and the placenta circulates blood into the fetus throught the umbilical cord. The umbilical cord is 2-way - it contains an artery and two veins (I don't know why it's two veins not just one). So CO2 and waste comes back to the placenta and diffuses back into the mother's blood. A placenta is considered to be a "super-organ" because it performs the actions of the lungs, liver and kidneys for the fetus. The mother's blood volume increases by about a third during her pregnancy to cope with the extra demands. Yes, a full-grown human can survive without lung function, at least for a short time. That is what a life support machine (or heart-lung machine, as they used to be called) does. It pumps the blood round and performs gas exchange. But it's very inconvenient to be attached to one, you wouldn't be able to continue your normal life because you would be confined to your bed or at least the room where the machine was located.