Have you ever stopped and considered just how wonderful the placenta is throughout the entire journey of conception, pregnancy and birthing?
Conceiving a baby and carrying a pregnancy is an incredible thing to experience. The fact that our bodies can create new life is mind-blowing on so many levels.
When you first lock eyes with your beautiful baby it’s completely surreal to even associate that perfect human with the day you saw a line on a stick.
The human body is just incredible.
Have you ever stopped, though, and considered just how wonderful the placenta is throughout the entire journey of conception, pregnancy and birthing? This female organ is an absolute rock star and here are just some of the reasons why.
- The Placenta is an organ that your body literally creates for the soul purpose of pregnancy. It does not exist before the pregnancy and it leaves the body following the birth of your baby. How incredible is that?
- The Placenta allows antibodies to pass from the mother to the baby, meaning that the baby’s protection and immune system are being cared for even before they are born. Immunity via vaccines and general immunity and antibodies from the mother can safely pass to the baby to help them fight infection and disease, both on the inside and when they arrive into the world.
The Placenta does not allow the mother and baby’s blood to mix, yet they pass through continuously. It does, however, allow for nutrients to be passed from mother to baby during the pregnancy. It can also allow alcohol, nicotine and medication to pass to the baby which can be very dangerous.
- Each pregnancy brings a brand new and unique placenta that is designed specifically for that baby.
- When a woman is carrying twins they may share a placenta or have their own. Identical twins usually share one placenta whereas fraternal twins will have one each.
- The placenta secretes hormones during your pregnancy. You can blame it for the many highs and lows, but rest assured those hormones have a very important function in your baby’s growth and development.
- Placentas vary in size and weight but can weigh as much as two pounds.
- Oxygen travels through the placenta into the baby’s blood via the umbilical cord. This is how the baby “breathes”.
- The placenta is “birthed” after the birth. In many cases, it will follow shortly after the baby has been born, but in some cases, the woman may need some help physically or in the form of an injection/drip to encourage it to emerge via hormones.
- When the placenta has left a woman’s body it stimulates the production of prolactin which creates breast milk for your baby.
