Umbilical Cord is the only means of connection between the maternal body and the fetus. It is through the Umbilical Cord that the nutrients and chemicals get transferred to the fetus from the blood of the mother. Besides, the three vessels the Umbilical Cord contains an Umbilical vein and two Umbilical arteries. All these components are buried within the Wharton's Jelly. With the help of these components most of the nutrients and oxygen rich blood transfers from the mother's body to the fetus.
The Formation of Umbilical Cord
Umbilical Cord is formed along with the placenta and the fetus. When the ovum and the sperm meet each other they actively take part in the formation of the Umbilical Cord. During the initial stages of pregnancy, the fetus lies inside the yolk sac. By the fifth week of pregnancy, the yolk sac gets replaced with the placenta and Umbilical Cord. A human mother usually has a full term neonate as an Umbilical Cord. The cord is almost 50 centimeters in length.
The composition of Umbilical Cord is such that it has no nerves or bones attached to it. Rich in Wharton;s jelly, the Umbilical Cord has a single vein. This vein carries oxygenated blood from the maternal body to the embryo. There are two arteries in the Umbilical Cord. These arteries carry the deoxygenated blood from the fetus to the maternal body.
The blood stored in the cord is vital for the growth of the baby. If the cord gets clamped before the baby is actually born, the embryo will suffer from extreme kind of suffocation. Critical cases of pregnancy may also arise if the cord gets entangled along the neck of the developed fetus.
Umbilical Cord after Birth
Soon after the birth of the child, the Umbilical Cord is clamped by doctors. The gelatin like substance in the Wharton's jelly undergoes automatic changes, once it is exposed to outside temperature. The natural clamp thus created halts the blood of the placenta to come back to neonate. The Umbilical Cord then stops pulsating and is gradually released from the human body. Many a times, Doctors maintain a medical protocol and hasten the natural process of drying the cord, with the help of medication.
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Rich in vitamin K and stem cells, the cord blood is being preserved off late for offering better treatments to the new born baby. Modern research in the field of medicines suggest tremendous potential of the stem cells in curing many fatal cellular diseases.
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