How Does a Newborn Begin to Breathe? 5 Points to Ponder

If One Gets Blocked

Does your car automatically expel all the dirt and dust that accumulates in it? Does your house clean itself every time it gets dirty? Do your clothes clean themselves whenever needed?

Of course not! It doesn't make sense for something like that to happen by itself. But what if I tell you there is such a machine—a remarkable machine that knows how to systematically expel all the dirt and waste within it—would you believe it? Such a machine exists—our body.

After our body absorbs nutrients, it disposes of waste and expels it outside. This seemingly simple act is also miraculous. The waste must travel a long path—several meters through the winding intestines. The intestine is narrow and twisted, and the waste moves contrary to the pull of gravity. Delicate muscles in the intestinal walls push the waste out slowly and steadily. A person barely notices these actions until the waste is about to be expelled. Needless to say, if the waste didn't leave, a person would die from poisoning.

Additionally, our body has a sophisticated "sphincter" that responds to natural needs but waits for instructions from the brain...

Those whose "safety valves" are defective do not control their excretions, and their quality of life significantly decreases. Only when there is constipation or excessively free flow does one appreciate what the Creator has provided.

May we merit to observe, appreciate, and thank the Creator who made us, for the grace at all times, and for the "automatic cleaning" of the system, operating over time without the person being aware of its complexities.

Therefore, the sages instituted a special blessing for the body's good health:

"Blessed are You, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, who formed man with wisdom and created in him many openings and many cavities. It is revealed and known before the throne of Your glory that if one of them be blocked or opened, it would be impossible to exist even for a single hour. Blessed are You, Hashem, who heals all flesh and performs wonders."

The First Minutes of Life

Did you know that a fetus in its mother's womb doesn't need air? The fetus receives oxygen through the nutrients via the umbilical cord. At this stage, its lungs are filled with amniotic fluid, and its heart isn't developed enough to pump blood to the lungs and use them.

In other words, before birth, the fetus’s blood doesn’t flow to its lungs since it isn’t yet breathing independently. Therefore, the blood flows from the right side of the heart directly to the left side through a special opening.

But pay attention to the miracle of life: At the moment of birth, there is a complete transformation in the fetus’s heart functioning, allowing the newborn to immediately start breathing on its own!

As soon as the baby enters the world, for the newborn to breathe independently, its blood must stop moving from the right to the left side of the heart and first flow to the lungs. This requires closing the special opening between the heart’s two sides immediately at birth! It's a perfect timing seal! A second too soon or too late, and the baby would choke and die, God forbid!

Furthermore, when the baby is born, it immediately begins to breathe. For its lungs to function instantly and not to choke as it enters the world, the fetus's body secretes a hormone called 'cortisol' which assists in expelling the amniotic fluid from its lungs. All this happens automatically and at the most precise moment. A slight deviation means the newborn dies!

This fact necessarily indicates that long before birth, the opening was planned to close at birth immediately and permanently. Who planned it? Who "closed" the opening at the most critical and correct moment, enabling life for the newborn?...

Where Did the Person Disappear To?

Yesterday my brother said to me, "Wow, I'm so tired, I'm going to sleep." A minute later, I entered his room to tell him one more thing—and he was snoring, not responding! Asleep, "no voice, no answer"... and to think that just a minute before, he was awake, and there was someone to talk to.

When you think about it, sleep is one of the strangest things for us humans: A person falls asleep and sleeps as if they're "not with us." The sleeping person is not aware of things happening around them—you talk to them, and they don’t answer, don’t hear, don’t see! You lightly touch them—they don’t feel. You can offend them, make them laugh—they don't respond... Even their muscles are lax: if you stand a sleeping person on their feet, they will fall to the ground.

Wait, what's happening here? Where did the person "disappear" to? Where did they "go"? The body disconnects from its environment—it's a tremendous wonder. The wonder intensifies when you think about the waking process. Notice: A person sleeps for eight hours, disconnected from the world, from reality, from themselves, and "suddenly," at a particular moment that can't be explained, they "return" to themselves and their surroundings. How does "suddenly" their awareness return when they wake up from sleep? Where did "awareness" disappear in the first place?

If we contemplate, we understand that the state of sleep itself is necessarily a supernatural, miraculous state! So is the amazing and inconceivable transition from wakefulness to sleep—from a state of "life" to a kind of "death"! Who controls this transition? Who created this unfathomable mechanism that brings us back to life every morning?

Unfortunately, some of us see it as self-evident and do not appreciate the miracle and grace Hashem does for us. So, if you allow, I’ll give thanks: Thank you, Hashem, for returning my soul to me every morning, after I was unconscious during the night’s sleep!

Thank you, that I entrust my soul to You every night when I lie down to sleep, and receiving it back from You new and refreshed every morning, thank you.

Survival Equipment

Anyone who observes the animal kingdom understands that this world is one of the most fascinating creations. I noticed that some animals have "equipment" within their bodies, the creation of which is a tremendous wonder, and even more amazing is these animals' ability to use them perfectly for their function and survival in nature. Here are several examples.

Snake - Venom: Who is the "scientist" who created this toxic chemical formula in every snake's body? Who is the "chemist" who formulated this precise dosage? Who "concocted" venom that can kill an elephant in a single bite?

Spider - Silk: Where do the silk threads come from? How does the spider produce those threads, vital for its function and survival? Who taught it to spin silk?

Squid - Ink: How is ink formed and how did it reach the squid's body? Who "arranged" for the squid to expel an ink trail to escape from a predator, using it to obscure its escape direction?

There are countless miraculous examples from the animal kingdom. And I ask: Does the tiny brain of the snake, spider, or squid have the "intelligence" to protect their lives in such sophisticated ways—or does it clearly testify to the Creator, who equipped them with everything necessary, implanting in them the instinct to use this equipment?...

Why Was He Moved?

I have a dear friend who does not observe Torah and mitzvot and unfortunately defines himself as a denier of Hashem. This week he had his firstborn son, baruch Hashem, and he was very moved.

I asked him, "Why are you moved?" He said, "...because it’s unbelievable, that he grew like that in the belly and now came out..." I told him, "And how was this baby created? How from a seed and an egg did a baby with a planned, structured, amazing, complex body form?" He didn’t answer...

I continued, "Today, the finest doctors don't know how to create a human heart themselves, yet in your baby’s body, there is a healthy heart, a new heart, a heart that no human hand took part in its creation—so how was his heart formed?" And my friend? - He started to roll his eyes...

I didn’t let go: "And after your son received a new heart, lungs, and so forth, did you ask yourself how distinct organs arrived in his body, with unique functions like eyes, heart, kidneys—and in precisely accurate locations?" And he replied, laughing, "Leave me alone with your nonsense."

Finally, I asked him the ultimate question: "How did life—a spiritual reality, that animates and gives life to your newborn's body—form from something inanimate like a seed and egg? Are there feelings, thoughts, desires in that living body? How is there life in an inanimate object? Where did this life come from?" My friend was silent, then told me: "I don't have answers to your questions... but who says it’s necessarily God?"...

Unfortunately, someone who doesn't want to believe in Hashem, even with thousands of witnesses and proofs, will deny them all.

But I would expect an intelligent person to investigate, delve, and clarify as much as they can, who is responsible for creating the amazing baby and the greatest miracle of life that exists here, whatever the conclusions may be.