Placenta: The Incredible Organ You Make During Pregnancy
You may know that the placenta is there to take care of your baby in utero, like a gory version of Mary Poppins. But what is the placenta exactly, how does it form… and should you eat it?
“The placenta is literally a wonder organ,” co-host Alok Patel says, “kind of like how Mary Poppins is a wonderful creature.” In this episode of Parentalogic, he and co-host Bethany Van Delft explore how the placenta takes care of everything a developing baby needs during their 9-month stay in the uterus, acting as lungs, kidney, heart, and endocrine system. The placenta ferries nutrients—food from mom—to the growing baby. It assists with gas exchange, much like a lung does, despite being submerged in fluid. Since babies in utero can’t pee or poop (at least in the traditional sense), the placenta also helps with the removal of waste products, like uric acid. And, in true “wonder organ” fashion, it also gives babies antibodies for immunity to viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens, helping with hormone development and regulation along the way.
If you, your partner, or another loved one took medications while pregnant, the placenta may have also helped safeguard your little one from their effects. Opiates, benzos, and beta-blockers can cross a placental barrier, but many prescribed drugs cannot and are fine to take while pregnant, Alok explains. Some infections, including toxoplasmosis and rubella, can cross the placental barrier as well. (In a public health victory, however, you can now be vaccinated against rubella.)
Typically, a mom’s placenta develops from the top of the uterus, where it will attach to the uterine wall and then detach after delivery. But its position can vary. Some positions, like placenta previa, in which it covers the cervix where the baby needs to exit at birth, can cause complications.
When a mother’s placenta (and baby) are delivered, should mom consider eating it? Alok and Bethany explore the short and long answers and conclude that it may just depend on whether mom is a human—or not.
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