Why Do We Have Belly Buttons?

belly-button-100525-02 — (Image credit: sxc.he)

Belly buttons aren’t just for collecting lint.

When a fetus floats inside a mother’s womb, its belly button looks more like a buttonhole than a button. The hole connects a fetus to an umbilical cord. The cord funnels nutrients and oxygen from the mother to the fetus. It also carries waste away from the fetus.

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Corey Binns lives in Northern California and writes about science, health, parenting, and social change. In addition to writing for Live Science, she's contributed to publications including Popular Science, TODAY.com, Scholastic, and the Stanford Social Innovation Review as well as others. She's also produced stories for NPR’s Science Friday and Sundance Channel. She studied biology at Brown University and earned a Master's degree in science journalism from NYU. The Association of Health Care Journalists named her a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Health Journalism Fellow in 2009. She has chased tornadoes and lived to tell the tale.