Can babies fart in the womb?

[Mammie81]

I know its so silly, but Im sure I just felt farty bubbles in my tummy! If its not possible then it could be my own wind but Im really interested to know!

How funny if its a little baby fart!

But they don't breathe air!

I mean, no I don't think so.

they hiccup

They have hiccups so could be that you're feeling.
Or it's your own wind

i dont see how baby could fart before birth.

i always thought farts are an unfortunate by product of eating /swallowing air/and the digestive process.... since they dont eat or swallow air yet ???

Methane gas from food makes farts, doesnt it? I secretly hope it is a fart, how cute!

And their digestive systems work, dont they? Im not sure?

babies don't poo before birth do they...so I'm thinking it can't be

Lay off the broccolli and Brussels

No I don't think they do. The gas for farting mostly comes from bacterial breakdown of waste products in the gut - the baby has a virgin gut (no bacteria) in the womb so shouldn't really be possible.
Hiccups happen though.

Meh. I think it must have been my wind then. How disappointing.

nothing in their guts to digest... they get "food" (ykwim,) direct into bloodstream via placenta.

They get hiccups.

All they have in their guts is digested lanugo which makes meconium (baby's first poo). They won't poo in the womb unless they get badly distressed or are overdue - good thing too as it can stop the oxygen getting to them or they can choke at birth.

Charming thread

poor little baby already being blamed for mum's wind!

what is lanugo?
hair?

how do they get hicccups then?

lanugo is fine hair that covers babies before they are born. it helps keep them warm.Can be seen on prem babies sometimes , full term babbies shed it a before birth.

Hiccups is a twitch in the diaphram muscle thats under the ribcage...when born people do it it expels air from lungs and we get the noise with the air rushing up the vocal cords. Unborn babies do the muscle twitch , but as they are in fluid not air there is no noise that comes out...its still a hic-up though ;-)

oh yuk! then they eat it?

No they dont eat it , pmsl

I supposed it gets reabsorbed somehow ? , or disintegrates into the fluid ?. (not sure)
Ive never given birth to bits of hair that wasnt actually on the babies ! lol .

would be odd if you did ....have baby, then pass placenta and furball doesnt quite seem right ?

any midwifes about that can clarify ?

What exactly happens to the lanugo ?
where does it go?

Pretty sure the baby does digest the remnants of the lanugo - it gives their digestive system "practice" just like how they swallow amniotic fluid and then pee it out to get their kidneys in practice and practice swallowing before birth.

hiccups for sure, my son had them ALL THE TIME overnight especially.

Gross but hilarious!!

My DS can't have digested his lanugo.
He could have join the PG tips chimps from the delivery table.

japhrimel , if they do ingest it , to give the digestive system practice ....then they could produce by products ...farts ????

where does the meconium come from ? is that what you shit if you eat hair then ?

marriednotdead for Quote of the week

Thanks I think