After bypassing the liver through the ductus venosus, blood flows where?

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In fetal circulation, the ductus venosus shunts highly oxygenated blood from the umbilical vein directly into the inferior vena cava, bypassing the liver. From there the blood flows toward the heart, entering the right atrium. This arrangement ensures the oxygen-rich blood preferentially reaches the heart and brain; some of it then passes through the foramen ovale to the left atrium and onward. After birth, the ductus venosus closes and hepatic portal flow resumes through the liver.