Wicklow - endocrine changes at birth

Extrauterine life in terms of metabolism or metabolics, when an infant is cut from the glucose supply from mom, they are now responsible for their own metabolism.  So their own glucose supply, which either comes from external sources depending on whether or not an infant is born healthy or not.  Most infants will breastfeed appropriately and will keep their blood sugars up and have had some stores of sugar in their liver which they will sort of stockpile in the last trimester which will maintain their sugars at an appropriate level for general functioning;  for their heart to beat and for them to stay the same temperature, for them to use as fuel as infants and to continue to grow. The same is true in terms of their adipocytes or their fat mass and the hormones that are secreted by fat so leptin, adiponectin, resistin and their regulation of appetite control; satiety, that also will occur within the fetus on its own so that an infant is fully responsible obviously for their own metabolism.  On occasion when they’re born before they’re supposed to these systems aren’t fully functional and that’s why you’ll find infants that require incubation because they can’t keep their own temperature up and IV’s because they can’t keep their own blood sugars up because they don’t have the same stores in terms of fat mass and in terms of glycogen stores in their liver.