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Module 17

The face, gut and digestive organs

How a few simple swellings build the face, mouth and neck, and how one tube becomes the oesophagus, stomach, bowel, liver and pancreas, including the weeks when part of the bowel grows inside the umbilical cord.

  • 6lessons
  • 24 minreading
  • 6quiz questions
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The lessons and the quiz in this module are part of the Fertility with Kara Package. Module 1 is free to read.

Your way through Module 17

  1. Lesson 17.1 · 4 min One tube, three parts How the folding embryo turns part of the yolk sac into a gut tube, and how that tube is divided into foregut, midgut and hindgut.
  2. Lesson 17.2 · 4 min The stomach turns and the bowel takes a trip How the stomach gets its shape, and why part of the bowel grows outside the body for a few weeks before settling back in.
  3. Lesson 17.3 · 4 min The liver and the pancreas How two glands bud from the gut tube near the future duodenum, and what each one does before birth.
  4. Lesson 17.4 · 4 min When the gut forms differently The main kinds of gut differences a baby can be born with, explained by the developmental step each one comes from.
  5. Lesson 17.5 · 4 min The pharyngeal arches and the face How a row of swellings in the embryo's neck builds the jaws, throat and ears, and how five swellings meet to make the face.
  6. Lesson 17.6 · 4 min The mouth, palate, teeth and neck glands How the roof of the mouth closes, why clefts of the lip and palate happen, how teeth begin, and how the thyroid travels down into the neck.
  7. Quiz6 questions · 5 to passNot taken BadgeModule 17Earned with the quiz

Learning aims

By the end of this module you will be able to:

  • Describe how the gut tube forms when the embryo folds, and name its three parts.
  • Explain how the stomach turns and why the midgut grows into the umbilical cord for a few weeks.
  • Describe how the liver and the pancreas bud from the gut, and what the fetal liver does before birth.
  • Recognise the main kinds of gut differences and the developmental step each one comes from.
  • Describe how the pharyngeal arches and five facial swellings build the face and palate, and explain why cleft lip and palate happen.
  • Ask informed questions about early scan findings at the base of the cord.

The module in brief

The module in brief
  • The gut forms as one tube in week 4 after fertilisation, when the folding embryo draws part of the yolk sac inside.
  • The tube has three parts, foregut, midgut and hindgut, each supplied by its own artery.
  • The stomach widens and turns a quarter turn, which also swings the duodenum, liver and pancreas into place.
  • The midgut grows into the umbilical cord in week 6 after fertilisation and returns in week 10 (about 12 weeks of pregnancy), so a small bulge at the cord base on an early scan can be normal.
  • The liver buds from the foregut early in week 4; before birth it makes blood cells, and from about week 12 after fertilisation it makes bile.
  • The pancreas forms from a dorsal and a ventral bud that fuse after the gut turns; insulin release starts at about week 10.
  • Most gut differences trace back to one step: a passage that does not reopen, a loop that does not return or settle, a stalk that remains, or nerves that do not reach the end of the bowel.
  • The face forms from the pharyngeal arches and five swellings that meet and fuse between weeks 4 and 10 after fertilisation, and the palate closes by about week 12; clefts of the lip and palate affect about 1.7 in 1,000 babies, and a cleft is not anyone's fault.
A note from Kara

Thank you for choosing to learn with me

I know you had many places to look for answers, and you chose this course. Thank you. It means a lot to me that you trust me with something this close to your heart.

Every lesson here is something I wish every couple could hear before they sit down with their clinic: how a life begins, what happens in the lab, and what the words on your report mean. Take it slowly. Short lessons, one at a time, are the way the science sinks in.

If a lesson raises a question about your own body or your own embryos, write it down and take it to your healthcare professional. That is exactly what this course is for.

Warmly, Kara

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