Hello and welcome to the zero to finals podcast.

This is a new series of the podcast where we're going to be going back through

pediatrics and starting with pediatric cardiology.

My name is Tom and in this first episode I'm going to be talking to you about the fetal

circulation.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero to finals.com slash fetal circulation

or in the zero to finals pediatrics book.

And you can find short answer questions in a short answer format and an anki-like format to test yourself

on this pediatric cardiology content at members.0.0.5.com. So let's get straight into it.

In children and adults, gas exchange happens in the lungs.

In the fetus, the lungs are not functional.

Instead of using the lungs for gas exchange, the fetus uses the placenta,

and this is where blood gets oxygenated and waste carbon dioxide is removed.

Fetal blood travels to the placenta via the two umbilical arteries.

The unbilical arteries originate from the internal iliac arteries.

Fetal blood travels back from the placenta to the fetus via the umbilical vein.

Let's go through the fetal shunts. There are three fetal shunts, the ductus venosis, the pheromone ovale

and the ductus arteriosis. The ductus finosis connects the umbilical vein to the inferior

vener caver which allows blood to bypass the liver in the fetus. The thoramon ovalee connects the right atrium with the left atrium, which allows blood to

flow from the right atrium to the left atrium, bypassing the right ventricle and the lungs.

The ductus arteriosis connects the pulmonary artery with the aorta, allowing blood to flow from the

pulmonary artery directly into the aorta and the systemic circulation, allowing blood to

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