By Dave Andrusko
I always love to watch well-done stories of fetal development, even more so now that our daughter-in-law has had two babies.
NRL News Today has written about many YouTube videos, here’s one more: “Life in the Womb (9 months in four minutes)”
So what makes this compelling viewing?
For some of the same reasons other well-done videos grab your attention: pace, music, and most of all the clear demonstration that fetal development is a natural progression, starting at fertilization and ending with the first cry. But there’s more.
For example, the video double backs. You see that the baby has fully developed outer ears and then a little bit later the viewer sees a schematic (as it were) of the middle and inner ear.
Message? Complexity.
You see examples of the behavior expectant parents can now see on 4-D ultrasounds: the smiles, the yawning, the swallowing of amniotic fluid, the nibbling on the toes, the movement to gain maneuvering room as the child grows larger.
I’m sure I’ve probably seen this before, but this video does a very nice job of conveying the last part of the baby’s journey: moving down through the birth canal.
One other thought: pro-lifers all know that the umbilical cord is the baby’s lifeline, connecting mom and baby, so that the little one can receive nutrients and oxygen. But “Life in the Womb (9 months in four minutes)” helps us appreciate what an endless source of fascination it must be to the baby.
When you have a free minute, be sure to go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_NO3JU0LZk.