NORMAL DEVELOPMENT
For the midgut (middle part of the gut, bookended by the foregut and hindgut) to take its proper places in the embryo, more space is needed than can be afforded by the embryo’s abdominal cavity. It must herniate into the umbilical cord where it undergoes a series of counter-clockwise rotations that place the developing pieces (cranial and caudal limb of the midgut loop) in the right positions (2), seen in Figure 2. Once the rotation is complete and the retraction is final, the gut’s final convoluted shape can be observed.