Navel Gazing

Stop what you're doing. I want you to perform a quick experiment. Slide your hand under your shirt and stick your finger in your belly button (for those of you with "outies," please play along). I want you to contemplate that little crater and how, for nine months, it served as the life link to your mother, providing all your metabolic necessities. Let's face it -  the belly button gets very little respect.

Last week's View from the Womb took us back to our fetal origins, so I thought it only appropriate to discuss how each of us was nourished and sustained during the sojourn in our mother's belly. When you think about it, the belly button is an amazing little nugget of mammalian anatomy.

Humans are placental mammals, which means each of us develops within our mother's body and is delivered alive and kicking (hopefully) to the outside world, as opposed to being hatched from an egg or transferred to a pouch, kangaroo-style.

The belly button serves as the point of attachment for the umbilical cord which, together with the placenta and the amniotic sac, make up the life support system for the developing fetus. The cord itself contains three main vessels: two arteries that deliver deoxygenated blood from the fetus to the placenta. where it is oxygenated, and a vein that returns the oxygenated blood back to the fetus.No, you are not confused: the roles of the arteries and veins are reversed, just as in our pulmonary system.

The cord sprouts around the third week of pregnancy and can grow up to sixty centimeters (about twenty-three inches) long, allowing the fetus to perform its amniotic acrobatics during pregnancy. In the case of twins, although they share the placenta and may even occupy the same amniotic sac, each will have its own cord (the one instance where it's not nice to share).

The umbilical cord allows the exchange of nutrients, like amino acids, glucose, and oxygen between the mother and fetus while also serving to eliminate waste, such as carbon dioxide. The placenta does the heavy lifting of fetal nourishment; the cord simply acts as a conduit.

When the baby is born, it is still attached to the placenta via the cord. The cord is cut as soon as it ceases pulsing (a few minutes after birth), and the baby is left with an ugly little stump, which will dry up and fall off about two weeks later. Your fate as an "innie" or an "outie" is determined by the the amount of scar tissue that develops. Extra tissue means you’ll join the ten percent of folks who sport an outie.

Blood from the umbilical cord is a precious commodity. It contains valuable stem cells, which doctors believe will eventually be used to regenerate tissues. If your liver fails, they may simply grow you a new one! Cells from the cord are also showing promise in treating burns. The cord is a gift that keeps on giving.

It turns out there's been quite a bit of navel science in recent decades and the research is providing some interesting button-info. For instance, they've identified over fourteen hundred different strains of bacteria nestled within the navel; something to think about the next time you're running your tongue over your partner's belly. And depending upon how deep the button delves, there may also be quite an accumulation of lint. The bigger and hairier the belly, the greater the lint accumulation, since it’s the rubbing of belly hair against clothing that produces the fuzz. It pays to do a bit of housekeeping from time to time.

Duke University researchers have found a correlation between the height of the belly button and how fast one can run or swim. Turns out the higher the button, the faster the athlete. Who'd a thunk it?

The size and shape of the navel is also associated with sexiness. Supposedly, a shallow button with a slight hooding is considered more appealing than other manifestations. Outies are out, as are those that are too deep. Mine's a bottomless pit, so I guess I'm relegated to a life of social isolation...

And if you're pregnant, you can morph from an innie to an outie. But have no fear; when your body returns to normal, the button usually follows suit.

Each and every aspect of our bodies represents who we are and where we came from - from our evolutionary past to our reproductive present. Our belly buttons serve as links to our fetal past; tangible evidence of the connectivity between mother and child.

So the next time you squabble with your mom, take a deep breath and fondle your button. Always remember who got you here.

 Here's a video of cutting the cord, for those who want to see it firsthand. See you next week.