The Placenta

The placenta is its own organ, created in pregnancy to sustain and nourish your growing baby. It is attached on one side to the inner lining of the uterine wall, and the other side is connected to your baby by the umbilical cord.

The placenta is your babies first caretaker and provider. Ensuring they receive oxygen, blood, and nutrients that create their little bodies. Many people will refer to the placenta as a tree of life, which as you can see in the diagram, it resembles closely.

The placenta will continue to grow alongside your baby, and by full gestation is typically around the size of a large dinner plate!

Birthing the Placenta

The birth of the placenta is an often forgotten, but vitally important stage of the birthing process. The reality is....the birth is not complete until the placenta has also been born.

The moment the baby emerges, the body will release the largest amount of oxytocin that you may ever experience in you lifetime (until perhaps your next birth). Naturally produced oxytocin is the hormone that creates bonding, love, and even euphoria. The most beautiful gift to greet your child with after a long tiresome labor. Oxytocin does more than this though.. it is also the hormone which contracts your uterus during the entire labor itself! With this big influx, the uterus will begin to contract more frequently and constantly - it is normal for this to be quite uncomfortable. Do not be alarmed and know that it is working hard to shrink the uterus back down, and in the meantime slowly aid the placenta in its detachment and decent out of the uterus.

The placenta need time to be birthed, in the very same ways your baby did. It is important that this stage is honoured just as much, even if it may feel a little less exciting.

You can imagine the placenta like a scab within your uterus. If you force it and pull it off too fast, it will bleed much more ferociously than if you allow it to gently release on its own.

With a newly emerged baby on your chest, the smells and taste of your newborn skin, the suckle on your breasts, and the love from your birth team will all aid in this perfectly designed process, and continue that release of oxytocin. This process is also supporting your newborn to calm their own nervous system and adjust to life outside the womb as they learn to breathe for the first time.

It is vital that this stage is not rushed or interrupted unless necessary to ensure both the mother and her baby can complete their birth process together and have the best possible outcomes. To have these golden moments untouched to be in this bliss and allow the body to do its thing....is essential.

One key example of this is delayed cord clamping. The simple act of delayed cord clamping (which means waiting to separate the cord until it has stopped pulsing thus indicating little to no transfer of blood) supports newborns primarily with their early lung development by increasing breath and oxygenation. Not surprisingly, insufficient early breathing is also the most common reason for newborn active management and hospitalization.

Dr. Sarah Buckely, shares that “it is estimated that early clamping deprives the baby of 54 to 160 ml of blood, which represents up to half of a baby’s total blood volume at birth”. This is just one example of the many benefits of delaying management and giving time and space for the mother and baby to adjust naturally.

In the medical paradigm, the placenta is fiercely managed. Medical providers will use a routine medication, Pitocin which acts as a synthetic oxytocin. This is given as an injection in the thigh just after the baby is delivered to “kick start” that oxytocin boost I spoke about earlier. The problem is, by overwhelming the body with the manufactured version of oxytocin, the body responds by slowing down its natural production. It is important to understand that synthetic Pitocin is not the same as the bodies natural hormone oxytocin. It simple contracts the uterus, intensely I might add, without the loving, euphoric, and bonding elements.

Pitocin is designed to decrease postpartum haemorrhage (PPH) - a consequence of retained placental tissue. However, it is also linked to being one of the causes of it as well. The reason for this is because by forcing the uterus to contract down so quickly, the placenta may not be ready or able to detach before it can make its way out of the birth canal leaving higher risk of bleeding, as well as placental retention

Although is has not been well documented due to the lack of home birth research, it is no coincidence that the majority of women in developed countries who experience PPH have also had a medically managed labor. Meaning, the body has not moved through the physiological process of labor and has been forced or manipulated in some way before this final stage.

It is researched that a new mother will be more successful in naturally delivering her placenta if she is unobserved and unbothered - even with words. For this reason many women birth their placenta's on the toilet, where they are typically alone.

What Do I Do With My Placenta?

There are a few decisions to make before your baby is born to begin your postpartum the way that feels best for you.

As we have covered in the previous sections, the birth process is not complete once the baby is born - but once the placenta is.

First, you must separate the cord from the baby in some way.

Simply cut the cord. Wait until after it is done pulsing and has turned white to ensure your baby has received all the blood they can from the placenta, this will support their breathing by providing them with the circulating oxygen within the placentas rich blood supply.

Burn the cord. Again, wait until the cord has completed the transfer of blood. Using a small flame or candle hold the cord over the flame until it has burned all the way through - ensuring the baby is far from the fire.

Wait until natural separation. This is also referred to as Lotus Birth. Baby and placenta are kept intact until the cord naturally dries and seperates from baby’s umbilicus. This usually takes 3-10 days.

Next, you must decide what you wish to do with your placenta.

Simply dispose of/compost your placenta.

Plant or bury it into the earth.

Consume either as is or thorough dehydration.

If you are unsure of what you wish to do with your placenta, or are unsure of when you will be able to to plant or dehydrate it you can place it in a bag or bowl and store in the freezer after your birth. If you are choosing a lotus birth, I do not suggest freezing it but rather move forward with the final resting place of your placenta.

References:

https://experiencelife.lifetime.life/article/postpartum-hormones/

https://sarahbuckley.com/leaving-well-alone-a-natural-approach-to-the-third-stage-of-labour/