Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The valve of the inferior vena cava (eustachian valve) lies at the junction of the inferior vena cava and right atrium. In fetal life, the Eustachian valve helps direct the flow of oxygen-rich blood through the right atrium into the left atrium via the foramen ovale (preventing blood flowing into the right ventricle). Before birth, oxygen rich blood returning from the placenta mixes with blood from the hepatic veins in the inferior vena cava. Streaming this blood across the atrial septum via the foramen ovale increases the oxygen content of blood in the left atrium. This in turn increases the oxygen concentration of blood in the left ventricle, the aorta, the coronary circulation and the circulation of the developing brain.