Why do We Have Belly Button?

            Belly button is the little dent that we have in the belly. Though it does not serve any purpose in our daily life, yet it is a matter of interest to know what it is and why we have it in our body.

Belly Button

            Before birth, a baby in its mother’s womb passes through the embryo and fetus stages. In these stages, its abdomen is connected to mother’s body by a long tube called the umbilical cord. A fetus needs to survive and grow during the pre-birth phase of nine months, during which it is supplied with nutrition from the mother’s body through this cord. Oxygen and food from the mother’s blood are carried to it through the vein, and the wastes are excreted through the two arteries in the umbilical cord. The cord is attached to the baby’s body at spot where the belly button is formed after the birth.

            After the child is born, the role of the umbilical cord ends because the child can now eat, drink, breathe and get rid of the body’s waste by itself, using its own organs. Hence, at the time of delivery, the cord is carefully cut off as close to the belly as possible by the doctor. It does not hurt the other or the baby. The tiny stump of the cord that is left after cutting off the long umbilical cord dries within a week and falls off, leaving a scar or a dent on the abdomen. This forms the navel or the belly button.

How is Baby Born?

            After the menstrual cycle is over, during the first two weeks and egg develops in an ovary and is released in to the womb. If during this period, man and woman perform intercourse, the egg gets fertilized. The fertilized egg begins to grow into a baby.

The Mother's Womb

            After an egg is fertilized, the development takes place at a fast rate and it quickly develops into an embryo. The mother’s body keeps the developing embryo supplied with food and oxygen. The major organs of the embryo, such as heart and brain appear soon. After about six weeks, the limbs, eyes and ears develop.

            After eight weeks, the baby now called a fetus has almost all its organs and tissue, including its nervous system, muscles and skeleton. During the next seven months, the embryo continues to grow as a baby and is ready to be born after nine months in the womb (uterus).

            When a baby is ready to be born, the mother begins to experience labor pains, i.e., painful contractions of the uterus. The uterus muscles push the baby downwards and the neck of the womb starts to open. Eventually, the baby emerges out into the world. Normally, it is gently slapped on the buttocks, or it is lowered alternately into basins containing warm and cool water to make it cry; it then starts breathing and the umbilical cord joining it to the other is cut by the doctor.