Fetal circulation of blood is much different than that of newborns or adults because a fetus is still receiving nutrients, oxygen and blood from the mother’s placenta, so the placenta does a lot of the work that later on the lungs will take over. There are also other organs that are not fully developed within the fetus and therefore cannot be used or circulated with blood yet, because of this there are specific vessels that direct blood to other areas that in a newborn and adult will not go to. When this circulation first begins it is due to the fetus receiving oxygenated blood through the umbilical vein, that came directly from the mother’s placenta. The blood then travels to the inferior vena cava rather than the liver where it wants to go;
