‘Newborns regularly send signals, envelop the placenta and uterus for nine months’ – Miriam Stoppard

A new study has found that an important signal from the fetus keeps the balance of growth just right and may help explain why some babies grow poorly in the womb.

We know it’s a fetus Baby triggers birth when it’s ready by sending signals to the uterus for things to happen.

This is just the final act of a baby’s growing up. It has mastered the placenta and uterus for nine months, keeping the food supply coming in, so it can grow and blood vessels can dilate so nutrients can be carried from the mother across the placenta. pregnant.

Now, a new study has found that a key fetal signal keeps the balance of growth just right and may help explain why some babies grow poorly in the womb.

As the fetus grows, it needs to constantly update the mother about its growing food needs.

It receives its nourishment through the blood vessels in the placenta, a specialized organ that is the closest interface between the baby and the mother.

Dr Ionel Sandovici, first author of the study at the University of Cambridge, said: ‘As the fetus grows in the womb, the fetus needs food from the mother and healthy blood vessels in the placenta are essential to help it get the right amount of nutrients.

“We have identified a way the fetus uses to communicate with the placenta to promote the correct dilation of these blood vessels. When this communication is broken, the blood vessels do not develop properly and the baby will struggle to get all the food he needs.”

Between 10% and 17% of infants with poor growth in the womb, often with underdeveloped blood vessels in the placenta, randomly, mid to late pregnancy will reach a total length of about 320 km!

The team used mice to demonstrate how the fetus sends signals to encourage the growth of blood vessels in the placenta and command more nutrients from the mother.

That signal is called IGF2. Too much IGF2 and too much, too little, and stunted growth. Both are bad.

Babies that are too big or too small are more likely to suffer or even die at birth, and are at higher risk for diabetes and heart problems in adulthood. Therefore, administering IGF2 in the womb may avoid future health hazards.

The team say their findings will help better understand how the fetus, placenta and mother communicate during pregnancy.

This could lead to ways of measuring fetal IGF2 levels and finding ways to use drugs to normalize these levels or promote normal development of placental blood vessels.