Do babies fart in the womb?

magentawarped · January 2014

This is the question that was plaguing my husband last night because I told him it felt like there was a gas bubble in my uterus. I told him I'm pretty sure that the answer is no (how weird would it be to see little fart bubbles on an ultrasound?) but he needs to know for sure, and he's angry that none of the answers on the internet are from medical sites. Sigh...this is who I chose to breed with, folks.

MissDemeanor · January 2014

My boyfriend is obsessed with farting too, if that makes you feel any better.

magentawarped · January 2014

He's not generally fart obsessed, but apparently this is a really important question and he needs to know. You know, for science!

HisLovf · January 2014

Baby isn't breathing air. How could it fart? What a "guy" thing to wonder about.

magentawarped · January 2014

HisLovf said:
Baby isn't breathing air. How could it fart? What a "guy" thing to wonder about.

He argues that the body naturally produces gasses, even without breathing.

magentawarped · January 2014

car seat said:
No. There's no gas in there and if they were passing things rectally then it would be meconium (bad).

They do pee, as a result of regularly swallowing amniotic fluid. So they're swallowing and urinating the same fluid.

He did read that they don't because of the meconium, and he said that was the most satisfying answer he could find.

ziggy903 · January 2014

Gas is air that got trapped in your digestive system.
There is no air in your womb.
Thus, no farts.

Right?

slwprincess · January 2014

I'm agreeing with no air, no farts. But please ask your doctor and report back on his/her official response ;-)

magentawarped · January 2014

slwprincess said:
I'm agreeing with no air, no farts. But please ask your doctor and report back on his/her official response ;-)

I'll have him put in that phone call. I'd rather keep some credibility.

Winnieella · January 2014

I say no baby farts because of no air

magentawarped · January 2014

carleys said:
They hiccup, aren't hiccups sort of gas related? swallowing/gulping
I was wondering if they burp because sometimes I felt a rattling kind of motion

thinking is hard
haha

Hiccups are a diaphragm spasm, so no air involved, just muscle.

gfam23 · January 2014

This whole thread has me LOL. :-)

Codypup · January 2014

All I know is that when I accidentally dutch oven my husband...I totally blame it on the baby.

He's too busy gagging to contemplate whether or not this is scientifically possible.

magentawarped · January 2014

I'm glad you guys are enjoying. I figured the title would make everyone's brain scream "TROLL!"

Reneej918 · January 2014

Lol. My DH and I are laughing so hard at this post!!!!

jpoindahouse · January 2014

OK I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on tv. I'm just a poster with no life who really, really wants to know the answer to this question.

So, apparently, the fact alone that the fetus doesn't ingest air would not be sufficient to rule out the possibility of a fetus cutting the cheese in utero.flatulence has two sources:

Exogenous sources - air that comes in from outside. We swallow it when we eat, drink or swallow saliva. It can occur when we experience nausea or acid reflux and excess saliva is produced.Endogenous sources - it is produced within the gut. Gas may be produced as a by-product of digestion of certain foods, or when foods are not digested completely. Anything that causes food not to be digested completely by the stomach and/or small intestine can cause flatulence when it reaches the large intestine.

According to my friend in medical school (who was over this am. Now, this person is not yet an M.D. So it isn't like I asked Sanjay Gupta.) flatulence from an Endogenous source would be possible only if the baby had bacteria present in its digestive system in utero. He did not know if fetuses do have bacteria in utero. Dr. Google says that babies begin to acquire bacteria in their gut from the mother's digestive system while they are still in utero.

So, I think babies can fart in the womb. At least, a really big part of me wants to believe that they can because the image of a farting fetus is just really funny.

Soap1 · January 2014

jpoindahouse said:

OK I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on tv. I'm just a poster with no life who really, really wants to know the answer to this question.

So, apparently, the fact alone that the fetus doesn't ingest air would not be sufficient to rule out the possibility of a fetus cutting the cheese in utero.flatulence has two sources:
Exogenous sources - air that comes in from outside. We swallow it when we eat, drink or swallow saliva. It can occur when we experience nausea or acid reflux and excess saliva is produced.Endogenous sources - it is produced within the gut. Gas may be produced as a by-product of digestion of certain foods, or when foods are not digested completely. Anything that causes food not to be digested completely by the stomach and/or small intestine can cause flatulence when it reaches the large intestine.
According to my friend in medical school (who was over this am. Now, this person is not yet an M.D. So it isn't like I asked Sanjay Gupta.) flatulence from an Endogenous source would be possible only if the baby had bacteria present in its digestive system in utero. He did not know if fetuses do have bacteria in utero. Dr. Google says that babies begin to acquire bacteria in their gut from the mother's digestive system while they are still in utero.
So, I think babies can fart in the womb. At least, a really big part of me wants to believe that they can because the image of a farting fetus is just really funny.

The baby doesn't digest any food in the womb, so that rules out endogenous sources

jpoindahouse · January 2014

Soap1 said:

jpoindahouse said:

OK I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on tv. I'm just a poster with no life who really, really wants to know the answer to this question.

So, apparently, the fact alone that the fetus doesn't ingest air would not be sufficient to rule out the possibility of a fetus cutting the cheese in utero.flatulence has two sources:
Exogenous sources - air that comes in from outside. We swallow it when we eat, drink or swallow saliva. It can occur when we experience nausea or acid reflux and excess saliva is produced.Endogenous sources - it is produced within the gut. Gas may be produced as a by-product of digestion of certain foods, or when foods are not digested completely. Anything that causes food not to be digested completely by the stomach and/or small intestine can cause flatulence when it reaches the large intestine.
According to my friend in medical school (who was over this am. Now, this person is not yet an M.D. So it isn't like I asked Sanjay Gupta.) flatulence from an Endogenous source would be possible only if the baby had bacteria present in its digestive system in utero. He did not know if fetuses do have bacteria in utero. Dr. Google says that babies begin to acquire bacteria in their gut from the mother's digestive system while they are still in utero.
So, I think babies can fart in the womb. At least, a really big part of me wants to believe that they can because the image of a farting fetus is just really funny.

The baby doesn't digest any food in the womb, so that rules out endogenous sources

Don't they digest some of the vernix, epithelial tissue, and lanugo? I thought that that was what made up a portion of the meconium that was the first bowel movement? Again, not a doctor and I have no scientific training. This is based on bump updates...which are probably not the most scientific source. LOL

jpoindahouse · January 2014

TyrannosaurusLex said:

If babies farted in the womb, we'd have been lol'ing about the fart bubbles visible on ultrasound way back in 2nd tri.
They'd also be passing bits of meconium and swallowing it, and in a lot of danger.

I would like to add that I was wrong on the count that they have bacteria in their colon- healthy fetuses do not have bacteria in their colon. Like I said, I'm not a dr. and I probably shouldn't have even commented. That said, it is an interesting question

mythaldo · January 2014

Well, obviously girl babies don't fart in the womb, because girls don't fart. Ain't that right, ladies?

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