The infant's first stools.
Meconium is thick, greenish black, and sticky.
During pregnancy the baby floats in amniotic fluid inside the mother's uterus. This fluid protects the baby while he grows and develops. The baby swallows the amniotic fluid which contains all the other constituents mentioned above. All of the contents other than the amniotic fluid itself are filtered out and remain behind in the intestine while the amniotic fluid is absorbed and re-released into the uterine space when the fetus urinates. This cycle maintains the amniotic in a clear, healthy state during the nine months of pregnancy.