The Quest For the Perfect Belly Button

Small children often want to know why we have a belly button. In fact, who doesn't love to indulge in a bit of navel-gazing, comparing their own navels to those of their friends? It's when we feel deficient in the belly button department, either because ours is too small, too big or even non-existent, that our navel-gazing turns to neurosis.

Good thing, then, that such a procedure as umbilicoplasty exists. It's plastic surgery to reshape the belly button into a more desirable or aesthetically pleasing appearance, and it can be carried out in about an hour using only local anesthesia. The beauty part is that it leaves virtually no scars, is relatively cheap and almost always has permanent results.

Some people, however, appear to have no belly button at all, with Czech supermodel and underwear model Karolina Kurkova being perhaps the most famous contemporary example.

  belly button is the scar we humans - and all mammals - are left with after spending around nine months in our mother's womb. The scar defines the place where the umbilical cord attached us to the placenta, which nourished us while we were in utero. The depression (pit) in our tummies is signifies where the cord was attached to the underlying fascia.

 When we are in the womb, we don't breathe air or enjoy gourmet three-course meals. In fact, we don't even drink our mother's milk. Instead, all the nutrients we need - as well as oxygen - are delivered through the umbilical cord, which is attached to the placenta.

This organ, unique to mammals, attaches the baby to the uterine wall. As well as nourishing us, the placenta also allows waste to be removed, via it and eventually the mother's kidneys. After the baby is eventually delivered, the placenta is delivered as well. Bye bye, placenta. Hello, baby! Hello, belly button!

Sometimes, when the baby's umbilical stump drops off and heals, little Junior is left with a navel that fails to please - usually referred to as an "outie". The debate concerning innies vs outies is ongoing, with the majority of humans preferring the former.

We usually have outies due to extra skin left over from the umbilical cord, although sometimes they are the result of an umbilical hernia. This occurs when part of the intestine protrudes through a part of the intestinal wall that is weak, and is a harmless condition that can be easily fixed.

Some people, however, appear to have no belly button at all, with Czech supermodel and underwear model Karolina Kurkova being perhaps the most famous contemporary example. Ms Kurkova, for all intents and purposes, appears to have a smooth, slight indentation in place of a navel. She will not comment on how this came to pass, but her agent has assured inquisitive members of the press that she is not an alien.