Lanugo is the soft unpigmented
hair which coats the body of a baby. This is the name given for the unpigmented
hair that happens to cover the baby’s body, starting in the fifth month of
pregnancy. This hair, also called pseudo hair is lost before or soon after the
baby is born. The baby loses all or most of it, right before or soon after the
delivery.
What exactly is the purpose of Lanugo?
When a baby is inside his mother’s womb, his skin is surrounded
with a waxy substance known as the vernix. This vernix protects the baby and
prevents his skin from becoming dry and chaffed in the womb. Here is where the
role of lanugo comes in. Lanugo protects the skin in such a way that the vernix
adheres easily to the baby’s body.
Why does Lanugo grow?
So when people ask what is lanugo in pregnancy, it means that during
pregnancy, babies grow in this sac which is filled with amniotic fluid. This
fluid protects the baby by acting as a soft cushion.
When it comes to the early gestation period, the baby doesn’t
have a lot of fat to keep his own body temperature under control or in check.
Without this regulation, the lanugo starts growing like a light coat over his
body to make sure that he is warm.
When does a baby start shedding Lanugo?
Once a mother gets deeper into the pregnancy, the baby will
start shedding lanugo. With this, the baby starts gaining an ability to take
control of his body temperature. His nervous system starts functioning better
and there is an increase in the accumulation of fat beneath her soft skin. The
fact is that most babies will lose their lanugo once the mother is eight or
nine months pregnant. Some babies might be born with some lanugo on their
bodies, the remnants of the fine coating still there. However, all of the
lanugo disappears by the fourth month after their birth.
Babies do a weird thing while they are inside their mother’s
womb. They eat the lanugo that they shed while they’re still in the womb. This
makes up the substance that comes out when they first poop. This is known as
meconium.
What happens after this?
After shedding and eating his own lanugo, the baby starts
developing something known as ‘vellus hair’ on the same areas where the lanugo
previously coated the skin. This vellus hair will help the baby to continue
regulating his temperature till the time the new crop of terminal hair starts
to set in.
What does this signify?
Lanugo on babies is completely fine. However, if you have any
questions as such, with more details on what is lanugo hair you can always
speak to the pediatrician. However, an adult should not have traces of lanugo
on his skin. This usually means that he has an eating disorder. It is important
that this is not ignored because eating disorders can be very severe.
