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Home › Articles › Health and Physical Changes › The Life Cycle of the Placenta

The Life Cycle of the Placenta

A Major Player in a Woman's Pregnancy

By Teri Brown

Pages:  1  2  3  

Placentas are one of the main players during pregnancy. In fact, a pregnancy cannot proceed without a healthy placenta. So just how much do most women know about this mysterious, but oh so important, part of pregnancy?

Just What is a Placenta?
Dr. N. Natour from Baylor Medical Center in Irving, Texas, says the placenta is also referred to as the afterbirth. "The placenta is an organ which provides the fetus with oxygen, water and essential nutrients as well as providing a route for clearance of fetal waste products like carbon dioxide," says Dr. Natour. "The placenta also produces multiple hormones and other factors essential to the maintenance of pregnancy."

The placenta grows along the lining of the uterus and is attached to the baby by the umbilical cord. "The placenta is partially of fetal origin and partly of maternal origin," says Dr. Natour. "The fetal portion is composed of highly specialized cells from the outermost embryonic membrane, which form projections that contain the fetal blood vessels. These projections are called chorionic villi. The maternal portion is formed by a modification of the lining of the uterus, and the fetal villi grow into the uterine lining."

Basically, the placenta is made up of a combination of cells from the mother and the growing baby. Most doctors describe the placenta as the interface between the mother and the baby. "The placenta provides a metabolic interchange between the fetus and the mother without allowing direct mixing of maternal and fetal blood," says Dr. Natour.

How Does Your Placenta Grow?
The placenta usually grows on the upper part of the uterus, though occasionally it grows on the lower part of the uterus and covers the cervix. This is called placenta previa. Ninety percent of the placenta previa diagnosed in the second trimester correct themselves by the end of the pregnancy. The baby's umbilical cord forms on the side of the placenta nearest to the baby, attaching the baby to its life source.


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Re: The Life Cycle of the Placenta by anonymous on 01/03/2009 08:09PM

What if a woman who is 48 years old gave birth to 10 children, 6 miscarriages, and on the tenth child the placenta broke inside of her? What are the risks of her eleventh pregnancy considering the last child is 4 years old?

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