Lung development in your unborn child

Lung development in your unborn child

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Lung development in your unborn child
Posted in 2014

Lung development in humans happens over five different stages. After the embryo stage, a baby's lungs develop in what's called the pseudoglandular stage. During this stage, which lasts from about 5 weeks to  17 weeks gestation, the baby's lungs can be compared to a tree trunk with branches sprouting from it. As the baby grows, the "branches" become more involved and complex.
The next stages occur in phases, from 26-36 weeks, and then, finally, the last stage of lung development doesn't even begin until 36 weeks. That last stage occurs during the last month of pregnancy and even though it might seem like the baby is "done" by then, there is actually a tremendous amount of growth that happens in that last stage of lung development. During that last month, the baby's lungs do the majority of developing that they need to function outside of the womb, so that's why it is so important to do everything possible to let babies develop and choose their own birth dates, unless medically necessary to deliver early.
The lungs are unique in that they are one of the only systems in the body that stay primarily dormant until birth. Every other system, such as the cardiac system or the muscular system, are fully up and running even while the baby is still in-utero. But a baby in the womb actually gets his oxygen supply from the placenta, so the lungs don't get their official "test run" until the moment of birth.

A baby does some "practice" breathing in the womb, but there isn't any actual air exchange within the lungs until after the baby leaves the womb. The entire process of lung development is very complex and involves many different functions, so when it's time for them to spring into action, it's a crucial moment. Unfortunately, because it does involve so many factors going right, there are a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong too.

When a baby is born and once the umbilical cord is clamped, it has to switch over from "breathing" through the placenta's blood supply to breathing actual air. During that moment, the baby's lungs expand with air, the "flap" on the heart shuts to start the circulation from the lungs, and the new system of getting oxygen into the blood from the air kicks in. Sometimes, that process can take some time and, especially if the baby is born prematurely, there can be problems getting enough oxygen into the body.

My advise

1.....    The most important part of a baby's lung development is something called surfactant on the lungs. Surfactant is a mixture of primarily fatty acid components, carbohydrates, and proteins that "coat" the lungs and allows them to work properly. It helps to keep the alveoli, which are the air sacs where all the oxygen exchange happens, open and inflated.

2....     The surfactant is what develops last, and can be not fully present if a baby is born too early. When there is n't enough surfactant in the lungs, the baby is not able to breathe properly. Most often, a low level of surfactant leads to a condition called respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in babies, especially premature babies. The baby tries very hard to breathe, but the lungs just aren't able to work properly to get the air exchange needed.

3.....    In premature babies, RDS is the number one cause of death.

4.....    The Annual Review of Physiology journal explained an interesting fact back in 1984: babies' lungs, although fully functional, are actually still technically not considered "fully" developed even at full-term birth. Remember those five stages of lung development? Well, you may be surprised to hear that the very last stage of lung development continues from 36 weeks gestation all the way through a child's first few years of life. 

5....     During the first three years of a child's life, the lungs continue to develop and mature into the structure of an adult lung. More specifically, alveoli (the small "sacs" that exchange air in the lungs) continue to form over those first three years of life, which increases the amount of surface area on the lungs. More alveoli equal more air exchanged.

6...      Baby's lung development is natural process till delivery.   Now we are seeing number of couples wants their child in their choices of dates and delivered with surgery.   Due to it some part of lungs may not develop which causes various lung or other problems in the child.
7....     The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now recommends that babies should not be induced or delivered before 39 weeks of pregnancy unless testing to make sure the lungs are fully developed has been done.
Babies can develop at different times and the bottom line is, a baby's lungs are always developing, so every day counts during pregnancy.

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