The book on : The Ghanaian custom of massaging a baby’s head with hot water and ointments;
The damage to the baby’s brain development.
Blood flow in the brain.
The brain needs a lot of nutrition, so the brain has many blood vessels. The red arrows show the blood flows into the brain through the big and small blood vessels (Picture 24, right). The blue arrows show the blood coming out of the brain and returning to the heart through a very big blood vessel that runs on top of the brain (Picture 24, left).
Picture 24: The blood flow in the brain.
Picture 25 shows a model of the baby’s head.
Under the breathing place we can see the grey brain. On top of the brain there is a big red blood vessel.
As the heart pushes the blood, the vessel becomes big and swollen up. As the heart relaxes the blood vessel becomes small and flat. The heart pumping the blood and relaxing causes the vibration of up and down of the blood vessel that we see under the “Breathing place”.
No air passes through the “Breathing place”.
Picture 26 shows a special Xray of a baby’s head and it shows the big blood vessel that runs on top of the brain, to the back of the head and down to the heart.
When we put the hot water or towel on the baby’s head, we heat that blood vessel, and the heat passes immediately to the brain and causes damage to the brain.
Picture 25: What we see under the "Breathing place".
Picture 26: The big blood vessel under the "Breathing place".
Brain
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Blood vessel