Child care today / by Béla Schick, and William Rosenson.

  • Schick, Béla, 1877-1967.
Date:
[1932], ©1932
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Child care today / by Béla Schick, and William Rosenson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ing small vessels from the fetus. At no time is there any mixture of maternal and fetal blood. Oxygen and the necessary materials for the growth of the child are taken up from the mother’s blood and waste products are eliminated from the fetal vessels into the maternal sinuses. The umbilical cord connects placenta and fetus. When fully formed it is usually about twenty inches in length and about 34 of an inch-in diameter. It enters the abdominal wall of the fetus at the navel. Two arteries and a large vein are enveloped within it. They carry the blood pumped by the fetal heart to and from the placenta. To build a strong new baby the proper structural materials must be supplied. This first environment of the growing infant within the body of the mother is therefore important, certainly as important as any it will meet later on in the outside world. It is from this point of view that we should look upon the pre- natal period. The child’s body is composed essentially of the same constituents as that of the mother. In the next chapter we will describe how the expectant mother may best supply these constituents.