How does stomach acid form?

Question

So earlier today I was watching a show talking about if it takes gum seven years to digest. I already knew the answer to that, but something popped into my head.

Now during pregnancy, the stem cells divide and form into cells such as hair, skin, nail, muscle, bone, etc. but I wondered something. How exactly does the infant get the hydrochloric acid that is in the stomach?

Does some of the mother's go into the infant, or does the infant synthesize the hydrochloric acid over time? If so, how exactly does this work?

Thoughts or answers appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Gastric acid is produced by parietal cells (also called oxyntic cells) in the stomach. Its secretion is a complex and relatively energetically expensive process. Parietal cells contain an extensive secretory network (called canaliculi) from which the gastric acid is secreted into the lumen of the stomach. These cells are part of epithelial fundic glands in the gastric mucosa. The pH of gastric acid is 1 to 2 in the human stomach lumen, the acidity being maintained by the proton pump H+/K+ ATPase. The parietal cell releases bicarbonate into the blood stream in the process, which causes the temporary rise of pH in the blood, known as alkaline tide.