The organ which connects the baby to the mother and provides nutrients, glucose, fluids and oxygen to the developing baby.
The Original Tree Of Life.
The cord is the "trunk" and delivers oxygen, nutrients, glucose and fluids to the developing baby.
The main body of the placenta is the "roots, branches and leaves" all in one, and filters the mothers blood (like a kidney) and transports oxygen, glucose and nutrients to the cord.
It removes harmful substances from the blood and allows the things that baby needs to grow and thrive to pass through to the cord.
The placenta also produces hormones to maintain the pregnancy, prepare the breasts for milk production and prepare the body for the upcoming delivery.
Some women choose to have their placenta/s dried and/or encapsulated as it contains trace elements and minerals that can become low within our bodies during pregnancy, birth and while breastfeeding and these women believe that the hormone content of the placenta may assist in reducing the incidences and/or severity of post partum depression after delivery (this is currently not supported by scientific research due to a lack of research in this area). We do know thanks to recent research that the placenta is high in iron which quite often becomes low during pregnancy and it is potentially possible that consuming it, alongside an iron rich diet, may assist in bringing iron levels back up to a normal level in someone with anemia.
Visually it may not be beautiful to everyone and has often been described as "somewhat like a piece of liver" but it is an important piece of tissue and is often forgotten once baby and placenta have been delivered and it has been confirmed that there is no retained placenta in the womb.
The placenta is truly the tree of life, without it babies could not grow and develop and we should treat it with the respect and reverence that it deserves.
Jenna
Student Birth Doula
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