Contents:
- Medical Video: What should I know about meconium?
- What is meconium?
- What does the baby's first stool look like?
- What causes the baby's stool to come out while still in the womb?
- What are the consequences if the baby has defecated inside the perit?
Medical Video: What should I know about meconium?
Do you know? Your baby in the womb turns out to be eating and drinking. In fact, babies while still in the womb can issue their first feces. This baby's first stool is called meconium. However, normal baby stool comes out first when the baby is born. Of course, this baby's stool is different from the usual stool. Want to know what a baby meconium is like? Here's the explanation.
What is meconium?
Meconium is the baby's first stool. Normally, this baby's stool will be released after birth, approximately the first 24 hours after the baby is born. If the baby does not remove meconium during the first 24 hours after birth, the baby needs to be examined by a doctor. Babies may experience blockages in their intestines or other health problems, such as hypothyroidism, cystic fibrosis, or Hirschsprung's disease. In addition, baby meconium can also be released when the baby is still in the womb, but this can endanger the baby.
The baby's first stool contains ingredients found in the amniotic fluid that the baby swallows while in the womb. Some of the things you can find in meconium are discarded skin cells, intestinal cells, mucus, bile, water, and lanugo (fine hair covering the baby). Yes, meconium does not contain food scraps that you imagine.
READ ALSO: What Happens If Amniotic Water Is Damaged?
What does the baby's first stool look like?
The baby's first stool is not yellow or brown as you think. However, the baby's first stool has a blackish green color. So, if you see faeces in blackish-green newborns, you should not be surprised because this is normal for all newborns.
The meconium texture is thicker and stickier, unlike ordinary feces. However, mekonium does not smell like a normal stool. This is because meconium is free of bacteria, the baby's intestine has not been entered by microorganisms.
When the baby meconium comes out in a baby who has been born, this meconium is very sticky to the baby's skin. So, you need to be careful when cleaning it. Maybe you need oil to help clean the skin of babies affected by meconium.
Maybe, a newborn baby will emit meconium many times a day or more. However, this will not last long. Over time the baby's stool that comes out will turn yellow as usual and also smell. After a few days the baby is born (about 3-5 days after birth), the baby's stool will change color along with feeding the baby.
What causes the baby's stool to come out while still in the womb?
Some babies may remove meconium while still in the womb or during the birth process. This can be caused by various factors. One of them is due to physiological stress experienced by babies in the womb, such as infections or difficult birth processes. Emphasis on the baby's umbilical cord or head during the birth process can cause meconium to come out.
At this time, the baby has a shortage of oxygen which causes the baby's sphincter muscles to relax, so that the meconium can come out before the baby is born into the world. Babies who have been able to get rid of meconium before birth have already had a mature digestive system before they are born.
READ ALSO: Danger of Prolapse, When the Umbilical Cord precedes the Baby's Head
Meconium that comes out in the womb can mix with amniotic fluid. When the amniotic fluid breaks, you can see the color of the fluid to estimate when the meconium has been released by the baby.
- If the color of amniotic fluid is greenish, it means that meconium has just been released by the baby.
- If the color of the amniotic fluid is brownish or yellowish, usually meconium is released earlier or has long been in the amniotic fluid.
Meconium in the amniotic fluid can harm the health of the womb because the baby can breathe meconium in the amniotic fluid. Babies who breathe meconium in the amniotic fluid, either before, during, or after labor can experience meconium aspiration syndrome and this can endanger the baby.
What are the consequences if the baby has defecated inside the perit?
Meconium aspiration syndrome is a respiratory problem that occurs because the baby breathes meconium while still in the womb at the end of pregnancy or during the birth process. Meconium in the amniotic fluid inhaled by babies can clog the baby's respiratory tract partially or completely. Blockages in the baby's respiratory tract make it harder for the baby to breathe and the baby experiences lack of oxygen. Lung infections can also occur because meconium enters the baby's lungs.
Not all babies who release meconium in the womb will experience meconium aspiration syndrome. Some babies do not experience this problem and some may experience meconium aspiration syndrome from mild to very serious. This depends on how severe the meconium is blocking the baby's respiratory tract and how long it happens.
Risk factors for meconium aspiration syndrome are:
- Babies born past the date they should be born (born at more than 41 weeks' gestation)
- Babies have difficulty at birth or the baby has a fetal distress condition
- Babies have problems with the placenta or umbilical cord
- Babies are smaller than gestational age (small for gestational age), marked by low baby weight
Signs of the meconium aspiration syndrome are:
- Babies breathe faster (tachypnea) or have difficulty breathing
- Baby's breath snorts
- Baby breathing stops momentarily (apnea)
- Cyanosis (bluish baby skin)
- The baby's chest is bigger
READ ALSO: Effects on Infants If Amniotic Fluid Is Too Much Or Few
