The Umbilical Cord of Life

 The Marvelous Umbilical Cord

How could it have ever Evolved?

Ed Decker

I was sitting in a doctor’s waiting room a few months ago and was reading the only magazine available there, one all about mothers and babies.  With a choice of skimming through the magazine or staring at my feet, I chose the magazine.

One article was about the umbilical cord. It said something about there being over a hundred separate functions that this marvelous cord performed during the length of a pregnancy.  Any birth required all of the functions to perform properly.  Just as I got to that point, I was called into the examination room and went on with my visit and the day.

Fast forward to yesterday, as I sat in traffic, watching a small group of preschoolers, holding onto  a long rope, following one teacher and being followed by another. I guess they were sort of herding them down the street from a nearby park.

As I thought on the wonderfulness of young, adventurous children, my mind went back to that magazine and I mused that children such as those I was  watching and all my kids and grandkids could have never ‘evolved’ into such marvelous creatures. 

The umbilical cord makes such an evolutionary process absolutely impossible.

Think about it.

 The very first placental human child could never be born without all of the hundred plus functions up and working from day one. It couldn’t happen.

The Evolutionary theory of eons of trial and error could never produce a single birth any more than eons of swirling gases could end up as breathable air capable of sustaining life on earth.

Let’s take a look at the Umbilical Cord.
I have pulled these paragraphs from several web sites

What does the umbilical cord do?

“The umbilical cord in placental mammals connects a baby in the womb to its mother. It runs from an opening in the baby’s stomach (the umbilicus) to the placenta in the womb. The average cord is about 50cm (20 inches) long.   In the placenta, oxygen and food from the mother’s bloodstream pass into her baby's bloodstream and are carried to the baby along the umbilical cord.

Blood circulates through vessels in the cord, which consists of:

• one vein that carries blood rich in oxygen and nutrients from you to your baby
• two arteries that return deoxygenated blood and waste products, such as carbon dioxide, from your baby back to the placenta

These blood vessels are enclosed and protected by a sticky substance called Wharton’s jelly, which itself is covered by a layer of membrane called the amnion.

Towards the end of a pregnancy, the placenta passes antibodies through the umbilical cord from mother to baby, giving it immunity from infections for about three months after birth. However, it only passes on antibodies that its mother already has. http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/2299.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=128

“Then, what are the functions of umbilical cord? Mainly, it has three different functions. The first function is that it is able to serve the fetus a blood source. It is very important since the fetus is not able to breathe. It does not have either functioning lungs or an oxygen source. Also, it serves the fetus oxygen through the blood to serve the life of the fetus.

The second main function of the umbilical cord is that it is to serve the fetus a nutrients source such as proteins, calories, and fats as well. In addition, it is also able to serve the nutrients and also vitamins.

The last function of this cord is that it is able to transfer the deoxygenated and waste products away out of the fetus. It transfers those substances to the maternal circulation in which they can be processed and then excreted.

Then, what are the features that umbilical cord has? Basically, it is made of a substance which is known as Wharton's Jelly, connective tissue or skin. It carries some features such as one vein which has two arteries and oxygenated blood. The vein of the umbilical goes along the way to the liver of the fetus.

Here, it splits become two parts. One part of this vein is to supply the blood to the hepatic poral vein. It works to supply the blood to the liver. The other one is called as the ductus venosus. It is supply the blood to the whole human body of up 80%. It allows the vital nutrients such as oxygen to flow all over the fetus.” Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4825538

Another amazing thing about the umbilical cord. When the newborn takes that first breath, the whole thing reverses turns the whole job over to the baby.

Back to my first premise: The first and all following placental embryos , no matter how well into evolution they could ever be, could never  have survived to  full term and birth, without ALL the above things working perfectly.

It just could not.

Never. Ever.

ed@saintsalive.com