Immediately after the baby’s birth, babies are expected to cry within 30 seconds to one minute of their lives. This crying is necessary for the baby to survive because while inside the mother’s uterus, the babies do not take breath from their lungs. It is the umbilical cord which provides them with fresh oxygen and takes away carbon dioxide from their blood stream. Once, outside their mothers’ womb, the babies need to breathe on their own.
Lungs do the job of breathing and though soon after birth her nose and lungs are suctioned to clear of amniotic fluid and all secretions, babies also try to clear the clutter from their lungs and nose by crying.