23/06/2025
What is a placenta?
This temporary organ (yes, an organ!) grows with your baby and is absolutely vital for a healthy pregnancy. It’s your baby’s lifeline — and it works around the clock.
So what does the placenta do you ask? Lots of cool things!
✨Delivers oxygen and nutrients – Everything your baby needs to grow is passed through the placenta from your blood.
✨Removes waste – It clears out carbon dioxide and other waste products from your baby’s blood, sending them back to your body for disposal.
✨Acts as a filter and barrier – It helps protect your baby from some (but not all) harmful substances.
✨Transfers antibodies – Especially in the third trimester, the placenta passes on your immune protection to help your baby fight infections after birth.
✨Produces pregnancy hormones – It makes hormones like hCG, estrogen, and progesterone that help maintain pregnancy and prepare your body for birth and breastfeeding.
There are also 2 sides to the placenta: the fetal side and the maternal side!
Once your baby is born, the placenta follows shortly after. Some families choose to honour it in special ways:
🌟Placenta encapsulation – steaming, dehydrating, and turning it into capsules to be taken postpartum (it's believed to support mood and energy, reduce bleeding and help with milk supply, though evidence is mixed). The amazing Ash from offers this service!
🌟Lotus birth – Leaving the umbilical cord and placenta attached until it naturally detaches from baby, often over a few days.
🌟Placenta prints and cord art – Creating a ‘tree of life’ artwork using the blood vessels and shape of the placenta. Or drying the cord into a shape to keep.
🌟Burying the placenta – Often under a tree or in a meaningful spot as a symbol of life, connection, and new beginnings.
It’s so easy to overlook this incredible organ — but the placenta truly deserves it's moment after birth! Ask your midwife to give you a placenta tour and see the amazing organ you grew up close!
