Umbilical Cord

Umbilical cord  is a conduit between the developing embryo or fetus and therefore the placenta. In the stage of prenatal development, the duct is physiologically and genetically a part of the fetus and (in humans) normally contains two arteries (the umbilical arteries) and one vein (the umbilical vein), buried within Wharton's jelly. The vena umbilicalis supplies the fetus with oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood from the placenta. The duct enters the fetus via the abdomen, at the purpose which (after separation) will become the umbilicus (or navel). Within the fetus, the vena umbilicalis continues towards the transverse fissure of the liver, Where it splits into two. one among these branches joins with the hepatic hepatic portal vein (connecting to its left branch), which carries blood into the liver. The second branch by passes the liver and flows into the inferior vein, which carries blood towards the guts. The 2 umbilical arteries branch from the interior iliac arteries and expire either side of the bladder into the duct, completing the circuit back to the placenta.The cord is sometimes called the baby's "supply line" because it carries the baby's blood back and forth between the baby and the placenta.The umbilical cord begins to develop at 5 weeks of conception.It becomes progressively longer untill 28 weeks of pregnancy, reaching an average length of 22-24 inches.