8 Reasons Your Placenta Is Your Superpower
Birth workers are generally obsessed with this amazing temporary organ, yet many parents-to-be are at best oblivious to its wonder and at worst horrified and disgusted by the sight and very thought of it. So what’s so special about your placenta anyway?
It’s delightfully disposable - You have several organs that you can live without, but the placenta is the only organ that’s actually made to be disposable. Once it has served its purpose, which is entirely connected to the growth and development of your baby, it leaves your body naturally right after your baby does. Without a healthy placenta there would be no healthy baby, so while it may not be quite as cute it’s certainly important.
It has its own act in the play - The third stage of labour - which is what the period between the birth of the baby and the birth of the placenta is called - receives much less focus than the actual birth of your baby, although many of the sensations are similar. Because of this, it can come as a surprise to many giving birth that it can take an hour or more and is actually quite a lot of work for some birthing people - at a time when you just want to lie back and enjoy your newborn. The good news is that the oxytocin produced by snuggling with your baby, and the act of breastfeeding, will help your uterus to contract and expel the placenta more effectively.
It deserves its own section in your birth preferences - It’s worth giving some time to consider whether you have a preference for how the placenta arrives and what the pros and cons of each are. A physiological third stage means that you birth the placenta without any interventions, while a managed third stage involves you receiving an injection to help the placenta come away. The “Wait For White” campaign argues that waiting until the cord has stopped pulsing and all the blood from the placenta has travelled to the baby should be standard practice in all hospitals. Around 30% of the baby’s blood is in the placenta at time of birth, so allowing the baby to receive all of its own blood before clamping and cutting is thought to decrease the need for blood transfusions and help support your baby’s transition from your uterus to your arms.
It’s the in-and-out restaurant - You may know that your placenta plays a key role in feeding your baby during your pregnancy, but did you also know it’s responsible for making sure the baby eats well following the birth? The release of the placenta from the wall of the uterus triggers the production of prolactin, the hormone responsible for milk production.
It’s your baby’s lungs and kidneys - We often think of the placenta as the organ that sustains the baby and provides its food supply, but did you know the placenta also supplies oxygen and removes waste from your baby’s body, keeping them healthy and well.
It might have a role after birth too - Although there haven’t been enough studies to provide medical evidence to support it, anecdotal evidence suggests there are many benefits to be derived from consuming your placenta after birth. Many new mothers report a lift in mood and greater milk production compared with previous pregnancies when they didn’t consume their placenta. It is also thought to minimise or even prevent postnatal depression - although, again, this isn’t yet evidence based. A trained specialist - who your doula could recommend if she doesn’t offer the service herself - will collect your placenta straight from birth and process it for consumption. You might choose to create capsules or take some of it in liquid form.
It’s pretty impressive in person - If you’re not a fan of blood or feel squeamish about the placenta you might not have spent much time thinking about it or looking at pictures of them. For mothers who feel this way, the sight of the placenta can be quite surprising. It’s worth noting that it’s likely to be quite large - around 8 to 9 inches wide, and around an inch thick - like a big steak covered in a tree-like structure of veins. By the time your baby is born, the placenta will weigh up to 3 pounds.Whether you want to take a picture of it or even make a print to remember how it looked, it’s fair to say it deserves an quiet thank you at least.
It’s an internal warrior - The placenta can provide some immunity for your baby whilst in the womb. If the mother develops a bacterial infection, the placenta will protect the baby from it. While in utero, the baby receives antibodies via the placenta, and these support the immune system to help keep the baby healthy in its first few months of life.