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Encyclopedia :: encyclopedia : Fetus (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-23) |
 | | The circulatory system of a human fetus works differently from that of born humans, mainly because the lungs are not in use: the fetus obtains oxygen and nutrients from the mother through the placenta and the umbilical cord. |
 | | In the fetus, there is an opening between the right and left atrium (the foramen ovale), and most of the blood flows from the right into the left atrium, then into the left ventricle from where it is pumped through the aorta into the body. |
 | | In the fetus, there is a special connection between the pulmonary artery and the aorta, called the ductus arteriosus, which directs most of this blood away from the lungs (which aren't being used for respiration at this point as the fetus is suspended in amniotic fluid). |
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