What Happens to Your Placenta After Birth? Your Rights and Options.
The placenta is a fetal organ which connects both mother and baby in utero. It develops when the blastocyst embeds into the wall of the uterus. It is an extremely clever organ keeping the blood of mum and baby separate. It enables the transfer of nutrients from mum to her baby and also the removal of waste products that baby does not need.
When fully grown the placenta is about the size of a dinner plate, weighs approximately a sixth of your baby’s weight and is connected to baby via the umbilical cord which is on average around 50cm long.
The placenta does not stop working once baby is born but continues to provide baby with oxygen, stem cells and other substances during the few minutes after birth.
There are two ways to birth your placenta. A physiological placental birth which can take anything up to an hour and a half or potentially longer or an actively managed third stage of labour where the mother is given a uterotonic drug by intramuscular injection. The former requires that mum is kept warm, comfortable, has some fuel (flat coke or honey are great) and is given time to snuggle and bond with baby. The latter is given by injection directly after birth into the mother’s thigh and has both benefits and risks and should be discussed clearly prior to birth.
Information on placental birth options can be found at aims.org.uk or by reading the excellent book ‘Birthing Your Placenta’ by Dr Sara Wickham.
The most important thing I wish you to know though is that the placenta is owned by you. It is yours as you made it and you grew it.
So, if you wish to have your placenta encapsulated (dried and made into tablets to take), made into a smoothie, made into art, buried under a new tree, stored in your freezer or worn as a fancy hat (okay, I made that last one up) it is completely up to you and no one can tell you any different. Just remember that you will need to supply your own container to take it home in.
But whatever you do choose I would say to at least greet it. Look at it. Have your midwife give you a tour.
See the tree of life design and acknowledge that it was the bond between both you and your baby and brought you both, over 9-10 months, to this precious point in time.
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