The placenta is a marvellous organ: it supplies the unborn child with everything it needs to live and grow, above all with exactly the right amount of oxygen and nutrients. It disposes of all the "waste" produced by the unborn child. It keeps many harmful substances, viruses and bacteria away from it. And it produces important hormones to maintain the pregnancy. The placenta therefore always has the right answer to every moment of pregnancy and to every need of the child. It forms in the first weeks of pregnancy specifically to fulfil these elementary tasks. Once it has completed its tasks and the child is born, the placenta leaves the female body with the afterbirth.
This is absolutely unique: this organ develops and functions in the female body for a limited time only! So perhaps it is not at all surprising that people have been fascinated by the placenta for so many centuries. It is shrouded in legend and surrounded by rituals. It is said to have special effects and even medical research is interested in it.
To be honest - even as a midwife, I am always impressed by the placenta. So let's take a closer look at it.
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The development of the placenta
If an egg is fertilised, only a small "cluster of cells" is formed at the very beginning of the pregnancy. When this embryonic tissue (germinal vesicle or blastocyst) implants in the mucous membrane of the uterus, the placenta also begins to form from it. This is because the embryo develops from one part of the "cluster of cells" - and the placenta develops from the other part. Branched finger-like villi grow on its surface, which now fuse firmly with the tissue of the uterine wall. There is something else that makes this organ so special: it consists of both maternal and embryonic cell tissue. This unique nature is also reflected in some of the names given to the placenta in other countries. In parts of Africa, for example, it is referred to as the "twin of the child", in Latvia as the "other half" and in Mexico as the "companion". In Germany, the term "Mutterkuchen" is often used, which is close to the Latin origin of the word "plazenta = cake".
It takes a few more weeks for the umbilical cord to develop from small blood-filled cavities in the placenta. It then connects the organ to the unborn child for the duration of the pregnancy. Until then, the embryo is nourished by the so-called yolk sac, which you can think of as a kind of "attachment" to the embryo.
Your placenta adapts well to the course of the pregnancy and simply grows with it. Shortly before birth, it resembles a dark red, roundish disc, has a diameter of up to 20 centimetres and a thickness of between two and four centimetres. It usually weighs between 500 and 600 grams. The organ is criss-crossed by 80 to 100 visible blood vessels. In its centre is the "connection" of the umbilical cord.
The work of the placenta
The placenta is a so-called metabolic organ. On the one hand, this means that vital substances, e.g. oxygen, vitamins and protective antibodies, migrate from the mother to the child via permeable walls and thus enter the child's bloodstream. The metabolism works just as well the other way round: waste products produced by the child, e.g. carbon dioxide and urea, enter the mother's bloodstream. The pregnant woman's body then breaks down this "waste" or excretes it.
A particularly practical feature of the umbilical cord is that it has three strands. Inside it runs an umbilical vein from the placenta to the baby - and two umbilical arteries from the baby to the placenta. The so-called placental barrier, a thin membrane, separates mum's and baby's blood from each other. This means that both have their own blood circuits. In addition, the placental barrier filters out many things that could harm the baby, such as viruses and bacteria. However, the barrier cannot keep everything out. For example, the placenta is absolutely defenceless against alcohol and nicotine! That's why every sip of wine, beer or hard liquor and every cigarette reaches the baby one-to-one. So absolutely: Hands off both, dear mum-to-be!
In addition to this "supply programme", the placenta is also responsible for producing certain hormones that are important for maintaining the pregnancy. These include progesterone, which suppresses your period, and HPL (human placental lactogen), which prepares your breast for breastfeeding.
When your child is born, the afterbirth contractions ensure that the uterus contracts so that the placenta can detach from the uterine wall and be expelled. This is because it has now completed all its tasks. This usually happens 10 to 30 minutes after the birth. You can find out more about baby's first hours of life here.
If the placenta is also born together with the egg membrane and umbilical cord remains, the midwife or doctor present will examine this afterbirth thoroughly. This is because it must be ensured that it is complete and that no residues have remained in the mother's body.
The midwife will probably also ask you if you would like to have a look at your placenta. You can also decide what to do with it now - legally, the organ belongs to the mother. You must therefore also decide whether the clinic is allowed to dispose of your placenta in the rubbish.
The end of the placenta
After the placenta has left the woman's body, there are various options as to what should or can be done with it. If you want to take the placenta with you, it is best to discuss this with your midwife in advance. She will know whether certain precautions need to be taken by the clinic, for example if you want to have globules or capsules made from the placenta.
In my experience, most parents leave the placenta at the clinic. There it is then disposed of appropriately, i.e. incinerated. There are also various other ways of dealing with it:
Buried: Some parents take the placenta home to bury it in the garden and plant a little tree on it.
Burying the placenta is an old, well-known and widespread custom, even in other countries. The ritual of returning the placenta to the nourishing earth as the "nurturer" of the child was already known in ancient Greece. Finds of historical clay pots in which placenta remains could be identified also bear witness to a kind of burial of the placenta. In the Middle Ages, there was a superstition that witches or sorceresses could turn the placenta into a so-called changeling and swap it with the real baby. "To be on the safe side, the organ was therefore buried under the doorstep of the house, in the cellar or even in the family grave.
Before you bury your placenta in the garden, you should definitely enquire whether this is permitted in your area. The Waste Disposal Act regulates this regionally.
Have globules/capsules produced: You can also have a piece of your placenta processed into globules (placenta nosodes) by specialised pharmacies. As the placenta is made up of tissue from both mother and child, the homeopathic globules should also provide relief for both for various complaints. These include, for example, situations in which the child has flatulence or stress. In the mother, it is said to support milk production or help with difficulties with periods, among other things.
Placenta capsules are also said to have health benefits for women, such as improving oxytocin levels or protecting them from postpartum depression. As a reminder: oxytocin is the cuddle and happiness hormone that ensures well-being and strengthens the bond between mother and child.
But beware: At this point, however, I must point out that there are no conclusive studies on the benefits of globules or capsules made from placental tissue. Alleged positive effects have not been scientifically confirmed. They are based more on experience reports from mothers. It is not clear whether an "observed" effect is actually associated with the intake of the corresponding preparations, is merely coincidental or is even based on the placebo effect.
On the contrary: many doctors and scientists warn against taking such products or even consuming the placenta. Harmful substances have already been detected in the placenta. This is probably not surprising when you consider its role as a metabolic organ. In the past, placentas were also sold to the cosmetics industry. This is no longer done today because of the harmful substances. In addition, the placenta is not sterile either. After all, it is contaminated with many different, even pathogenic germs at birth.
Consume: You might be thinking with a tinge of disgust right now: "Excuse me, who would have the crazy idea of eating their placenta?" In fact, there are recipes circulating on the internet for exactly this, from placenta smoothies and placenta cakes to placenta pizza. These are supposed to have positive effects on the mother's health. But my warning also applies here: There is no reliable evidence to support this assumption - and of course the risk of contamination with harmful substances and germs remains.
Have it researched: You also have the opportunity to donate your placenta to research. In order to gain even more knowledge about the work of the placenta and its role for mother and child, international research has been active for years. For example, research teams are investigating the influence on the immune system of baby and mum.
Make art out of it: Some women even have a piece of jewellery made from dried placenta powder, for example a necklace pendant, as a lasting memento.
Or they can turn the placenta into an art project on paper or canvas: If the fresh organ is pressed onto the surface, an imprint with a branched pattern is created. This image can then be creatively developed further. Artists can also be engaged for this.
Whether such methods are your cup of tea is up to you. Personally, I quite like the idea of using the placenta for research purposes. We already know a lot about this miracle - but it would help mothers and children if we could learn even more about it.
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