One-Pound Wonder

Tomorrow we’ll wrap up our series on the development of an unborn baby through birth. But before we get there, consider the baby’s pre-birth lifeline—the placenta.

This is the baby’s first organ, and it functions as the lungs, kidneys, liver, digestive tract, and immune system up until birth.

The placenta begins to form at just five days of life. And it’s not part of the mother’s body. How it can even implant without mom’s immune system attacking the baby is still a mystery. But this truth completely defeats the “my body, my choice” argument.

The baby is not an extension of the mother’s body. He or she is distinct and must be protected by the amazing placenta.

Dig Deeper

• The Home Stretch: 33 Weeks in the Life of an Unborn Baby
• The Placenta