What is Placenta? The word placenta is of Latin origin and means plain flat cake. People are also call placenta such as “baby’s wife” or “afterbirth“. The placenta that provides whole exchange between baby and mother during pregnancy. It formed and develops in the early stages of your pregnancy, and leaves the mother’s womb shortly after the birth of the baby. The placenta, which is get off after birth, is approximately 20-25 cm in diameter, 2-3 cm thick. Placenta is about half a kilo with a flat appearance. The mother’s egg cell and the father’s sperm cell are fertilized and then segmentation (mitosis) and form the cell community called the blastocyst. Then some cells differentiate (trafoblast cells) to form the placenta, and some cells differentiate to form the baby. In other words, the placenta is made up of fertilized eggs just like the fetus. The baby’s umbilical cord extends between the placenta and the baby’s breast.
During the pregnancy, the placenta allows the transmission of nutrients, glucose, proteins, vitamins, minerals, oxygen from the mother to the baby. Placenta also allows bodily waste and carbon dioxide to pass from the baby to the mother. This shopping between the mother and the baby is due to the passage of mother and baby blood from the very thin veins in the placenta. The placenta does not only provide an exchange between the mother and the infant, but also has an important role such as the production and secretion of some hormones. One of the hormones secreted by the placenta is progesterone. Until placenta is formed, this hormone is secreted by the corpus luteum in the early stages of pregnancy. The corpus luteum is a kind of cyst in the ovary at the beginning of your pregnancy after ovulation. After a while, this cyst disappears and the placenta takes over the task of producing progesterone hormone. The placenta also produces the estrogen hormone (estriol). HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) hormone determined in pregnancy tests is a hormone produced by the placenta starting from the days when it adheres to the inner layer of the uterus. The hormone HCG allows the corpus luteum cyst to remain alive so that the placenta develops and progesterone release from the gut corpus luteum continues and miscarriage is prevented. Human placental lactogen and relaxaxin hormones are also produced by the placenta.
The placenta is usually left within 5 minutes after the baby is born and taken by the doctor (or midwife). Sometimes this separation lasts longer. If it is not spontaneously separated and stick to the uterus (placenta acreata), doctor (or midwife) can separate by hand or it may also be taken by surgery.
During the caesarean section, the placenta is taken out of the womb by the doctor immediately after the baby’s birth.
Abnormal placenta types:
– Bilobular placenta (Placenta bipartita): this type of placenta consists of two separate lobes, both lobes being about the same size. In the case of more lobes, the placenta is called the mutilobular placenta. If one of the two lobes is in the form of a small accessory lobe, then the placenta suksentriata name is given.
– Membrane placenta (Placenta Diffusa): Fetal membranes are covered with villus. Placenta previa and acreata may accompany.
– Ring-shaped (anulus, ring, zonary) placenta
– Placenta fenestrata (windowed placenta)
– Circumvallat placenta (placenta circumvallate): Fetal membranes do not completely cover the fetal face of placenta. This placenta surrounded by a membrane around the ring and the middle part of the placenta collapsed. Abortion, IUGR, preterm birth, fetal calorie trasse disruption, dislocation, congenital anomaly and fetal death risk increased in pregnancies such as this type of placenta.
– Circumummarginat placenta: Fetal membranes do not completely cover the fetal face of the placenta. Circumvallat is a non-plication variation at the edge of the placenta, so no precipitated area occurs.
If the umbilical cord is entering the placenta from the side rather than middle, this is called marginal insertion (battledore placenta).If the umbilical veins enter the placenta without being wrapped around the cord, this is called valveless insertion (membranous insertion). Both cases are related with increased intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) risk.
The reasons why the placenta is bigger than it’s normal size:
– Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)
– Hydrops fetalis
– Syphilis infection