Participants: Patti Barnes
Series Code: DIV
Program Code: DIV000004A
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00:01 The contents of the following program
00:03 are not intended to substitute 00:05 for the advice of your healthcare provider, 00:07 and the producers of this series 00:09 assume no liability for the use 00:11 or misuse of the material presented. 00:20 Creation or evolution, 00:23 design or random chance, 00:27 they say it all began with a big bang, 00:31 but when we look at the amazing human body, 00:34 the answer is obvious. 00:36 The complexity of the design 00:37 exceeds anything man has ever made. 00:41 The body, it only have been designed 00:43 by the master designer we read about in the Bible. 00:49 Divine Design. 01:04 Hello, I'm Patti Barnes, 01:06 Director of the Midwifery program at Hartland College. 01:10 There are several amazing transitions 01:12 that take place at birth in both the mother's body 01:16 and the baby's. 01:17 We'll discuss the mother's changes later, 01:19 but for now, 01:21 let's look at some of the transitions 01:22 that have to take place in the baby in order for him 01:25 or her to survive. 01:27 After all, the baby is going to undergo a drastic change 01:31 from the mother's womb, 01:33 which he has been comfortably living 01:35 in for the past nine months in a world of water. 01:39 An environment that none of us could survive in. 01:43 To an outside world, the world of air 01:46 and the baby is also going to transition 01:49 from a constant climate to an ever-changing one. 01:53 This is something that man with all his intelligence 01:56 and brilliance could never develop. 01:58 And it certainly could not happen by chance. 02:02 First, there is a divine hand that is guiding in this. 02:06 In Psalm 71:6, we read, 02:10 "By thee have I been holden up from the womb: 02:13 thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: 02:17 my praise shall be continually of thee." 02:20 Is this just nice poetic language here 02:23 or is this telling us that God does something special 02:27 as the baby is coming out of the womb. 02:31 Right at birth, a miraculous change must take place 02:34 in the baby's circulatory system. 02:37 Remember all along, 02:38 the placenta has been supplying the functions of the liver, 02:42 the lungs, the kidneys, 02:44 and carrying away waste and carbon dioxide, 02:47 while supplying the oxygen and necessary nutrition. 02:52 In other words, 02:53 the placenta has been the life support system 02:55 for the baby. 02:57 Now that is about to come to an end, 02:59 because it will end, there must be 03:02 a rearranging of the baby's circulatory system. 03:06 Up until now, 03:07 the blood has been bypassing the liver and the lungs. 03:11 You might roughly compare this to driving down the highway 03:14 and seeing a sign that says road closed ahead. 03:20 You were forced to take a detour for a while, 03:23 until you emerge back into the highway. 03:26 This is what the blood has done, 03:29 detouring around this major organs, 03:31 while the placenta 03:33 was temporarily performing their functions. 03:36 These detours are called shunts. 03:39 Another way of looking at this 03:41 is to sync up the path of least resistance. 03:45 The resistance into the liver and lungs has been high, 03:48 therefore restricting the flow through them. 03:52 The blood was flowing freely through the shunts 03:55 and to and from the placenta, 03:57 because the resistance was quite low. 04:00 At birth, the road closed signed is removed 04:03 and the traffic is able to continue 04:05 straight through the liver and the lungs 04:07 where the resistance has now fallen 04:10 due to the amniotic fluid being displaced 04:13 and the blood vessels expanding. 04:16 Another miracle of creation 04:17 is a restriction of blood flow in umbilical cord. 04:22 A strong muscle like tissue that surrounds the cord 04:25 begins contracting, clamping down on it. 04:28 There is an amazing substance called Wharton's Jelly 04:32 that has been serving a very important role 04:35 while the baby was in the womb. 04:37 This jelly like material has help prevent the cord 04:40 from kinking and pinching off the blood flow, 04:44 so necessary for the baby's survival. 04:48 Now this jelly serves a different 04:50 and opposite purpose. 04:51 After being exposed to the cold air, 04:54 it begins to condense and harden. 04:56 The result is a restriction of the blood flow 04:59 to and from the baby. 05:01 This prevents excessive blood loss 05:03 for both the baby and the mother. 05:06 By the way, did you know 05:08 that the baby's cord blood contains iron, 05:12 immune building red and white blood cells 05:15 and stem cells that can fed the baby. 05:18 That is why more and more studies 05:20 suggest not clamping the cord immediately after delivery, 05:24 but waiting for a minute or two 05:26 or until the cord stops cross-fading 05:28 This helps brain development, increases immune function 05:32 and may prevent anemia in a first year of life. 05:36 When the cord gets clamped and severed, 05:38 the blood flow is completely channeled back 05:40 into the arteries. 05:42 Gradually, the shunts or bypasses begin to shrink 05:46 and disappear. 05:47 Now, all the plumping is reorganized, 05:50 so that the baby's organs can do 05:52 all that the placenta was doing. 05:54 All this takes place in a matter of minutes. 05:58 As you can see this is just not possible with evolution. 06:02 Charles Darwin admitted in his book 06:04 on the Origin of Species. 06:07 "If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, 06:11 which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, 06:14 successive, slight modifications, 06:17 my theory would absolutely break down. 06:21 But I can find out no such case." 06:24 Darwin living in the mid 1800s 06:27 obviously knew nothing of the miracle of childbirth. 06:30 Here his theory does indeed absolutely break down, 06:36 not just once or twice but countless times, 06:40 one little glitch in this process 06:42 and there is no baby 06:44 and no second chance to get it right. 06:46 But hold on, just getting the plumping right 06:50 doesn't answer the question 06:51 of why the baby begins breathing. 06:54 Science still has not determined exactly 06:56 why the baby takes its first breath. 06:59 What triggers the baby to begin breathing? 07:03 If he doesn't breathe, 07:05 the rerouted blood flow through the lungs 07:08 won't solve the oxygen issue. 07:11 There are several theories about how this happens 07:14 and here are just a few. 07:17 The sudden exposure to cold air causes a gasping reflex. 07:21 Hormonal influences may play a part. 07:24 The respiratory nerve center is triggered by stimulation. 07:29 The change in pressure on the chest 07:31 from the womb to the air. 07:34 An increased level of carbon dioxide. 07:37 Perhaps all these are contributing factors 07:40 and we will probably learn more as research continues. 07:45 Friends, this is evident of an incredible design, 07:49 not mindless chance. 07:51 In Colossians 1:16, it says of Jesus, 07:55 "For by him were all things created, 07:58 that are in heaven, and that are in earth, 08:00 visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, 08:03 or dominions, or principalities, or powers: 08:07 all things were created by him, and for him:" 08:11 Only our own wise creator 08:13 could have engineered all these things. 08:17 But wait, we're not finished yet. 08:20 There is another major obstacle that the baby has to overcome 08:24 or all this nine months of incredible growth 08:27 and development is for nothing. 08:30 We've got to get the seven or eight pound baby 08:33 to fit through a tiny hole. 08:36 But don't worry, 08:37 God didn't bring us this far to leave us, 08:40 He anticipated and planned for this ahead of time. 08:44 In His infinite wisdom, He made the baby skull 08:48 in such a way to help fitted through this tight squeeze. 08:52 Let's take a brief look at this wonder of creation. 08:57 The baby skull has five main bones or plates 09:01 that have a special feature to aid in delivery. 09:05 They are the occipital bone at the back of the head, 09:09 two parietal bones on either side 09:13 and two frontal bones they make up the forehead. 09:17 All these bones are connected together by sutures. 09:20 These sutures are joints which in a baby are flexible 09:24 even allowing the overlapping of one bone over the other. 09:29 Where two or more of these sutures come together, 09:32 it is called a Fontanelle or soft spot, 09:36 allowing for even more flexibility. 09:39 This flexing process is called molding. 09:43 Not only does it allow flexibility, 09:46 but even a slight reduction in size making it easier 09:49 for the head to pass through the birth canal. 09:52 This is the reason why babies are born 09:55 with slightly cone shaped heads. 09:57 They eventually will reshape 10:00 and the Fontanelle's will close as a child grows older. 10:04 Well, this helps but it still appears 10:07 that there is an impossible task ahead. 10:10 The birth canal is simply too tight 10:13 to squeeze the baby's head through. 10:15 This is where God made a wonderful provision 10:19 with the mother's pelvis. 10:21 First something must be done about the pelvic floor though. 10:24 Muscles from all different directions 10:27 are anchored to the coccyx, which by the way proves 10:31 that it's not just a useless organ. 10:35 This pelvic floor supplies a base like a sling 10:40 that keeps our organs from dropping down. 10:44 So this mass of muscles 10:46 and tissues stand in a way of the baby's passage. 10:49 How in the world is he going to get pass all that. 10:53 The problem is solved. 10:56 At this point, the mother is producing more hormones 11:01 that will soften the muscle tissue. 11:04 When the baby's head descends, 11:06 a combination of contractions and pressure from the head 11:10 will cause this cervix to dilate. 11:13 Then further contractions help push the baby's head 11:17 through the softened pelvic floor. 11:20 We'll talk more about dilation 11:21 and effacement in a later segment. 11:24 But here the baby runs into yet another obstacle. 11:28 He gets passed all the muscle structure 11:30 only to run into the bones of the pelvis. 11:33 Now what? 11:34 The female pelvis is formed differently than the males. 11:38 Where the males is more narrow and funnel shaped, 11:41 the women's is like a bowl. 11:44 In fact, the Latin word for pelvis is basin. 11:48 It is made up of three major bones, 11:51 two illium bones and a sacrum. 11:54 A fourth smaller bone 11:56 is located at the base of the sacrum 11:58 which we all know is a coccyx. 12:02 Notice the three joints are ligaments 12:04 that connect the major bones, 12:06 two where the illiums and sacrum meet 12:10 and one at the bottom where the ischiums 12:14 which are the lower parts of the illiums come together. 12:19 We can all be glad for these joints 12:21 to say allow a degree of flexibility 12:23 and shock absorbents when we run, jump, or fall. 12:28 But this flexibility is pretty limited. 12:31 At birth however, 12:32 another miracle of design is set in motion. 12:35 The mother secretes a hormone called relaxin 12:39 that actually softens these joints, 12:42 making them much more pliable and elastic. 12:46 The pelvis can then stretch open for the baby 12:50 to pass through. 12:52 There is also a fourth joint at the coccyx 12:56 that will allow that little bone 12:58 to flex back in a way for the baby's passage. 13:03 Surely we can all say with the Psalmist. 13:06 "Marvelous are thy works; 13:08 and that my soul knoweth right well." 13:11 As we consider how the Lord has provided for every step 13:15 and stage of development 13:17 all the way through the delivery, 13:19 we can take a spiritual lesson. 13:21 The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 1:6, 13:25 "Being confident of this very thing, 13:27 that he which hath begun a good work in you 13:29 will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." 13:33 In another words, 13:35 Jesus is not going to leave you with an unfinished work, 13:39 so long as you cooperate with Him, 13:42 He will bring you to completion. 13:45 Join me next time for more on the Divine Design. |
Revised 2016-09-19