Birth stage three, which begins after the birth of the baby, further contractions expel the placenta, amniotic sac, and the remaining portion of the umbilical cord usually within a few minutes. Enormous changes take place in the newborn's circulation to enable breathing in air. In the uterus, the unborn baby is dependent on circulation of blood through the placenta for sustenance including gaseous exchange and the unborn baby's blood bypasses the lungs by flowing through the foramen ovale, which is a hole in the septum dividing the right atrium and left atrium. After birth the umbilical cord is clamped and cut,
Confraternities of the Cord the faithful began to wear a cord in honour of Saint Thomas, to obtain the grace of purity through his intercession. In the 17th century, societies were formed at different universities, the student members of which wore a cord in honour of Saint Thomas, hoping through his intercession to be protected from the dangers to which youth is generally exposed. The first Confraternity of the Cord of Saint Thomas was erected at the Catholic University of Leuven by the Belgian Dominican friar Franciscus Deurweerders in 1649, and numbered among its members all the professors and students of the Faculty of