Placenta Works

09/23/2025

Crowning ---> Birthed 💜

09/16/2025

"More Than Half of U.S. Boys Bodily Autonomy Respected by Informed Parents" 💜

Neonatal male circumcision in the U.S. has fallen over the past decade and now sits below 50%, a cross-sectional study indicated.

"These findings align with prior trends and reflect sociodemographic changes and evolving cultural, clinical, and policy landscapes," researchers wrote.

Read more: https://www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/generalpediatrics/117464

09/06/2025

She needs rest...

09/04/2025

Understanding Placenta Variations: A Glimpse into Pregnancy Diversity! 🤰✨

The placenta is an incredible organ, but did you know it can come in different shapes and forms? While the basic function remains the same – supporting your baby – there are several variations in how the placenta can develop and attach. This fantastic illustration with its adorable smiling placentas helps us visualize some of these common placenta variations!

Let's Explore These Variations:

* Velamentous Insertion: In this variation, the umbilical cord inserts into the fetal membranes (like the amnion and chorion) instead of directly into the placenta itself. The blood vessels then travel unprotected within the membranes to reach the placental disc. This can sometimes make these vessels more vulnerable during labor.

* Marginal Insertion (Battledore Placenta): Here, the umbilical cord attaches at the very edge or margin of the placenta. While generally benign, in some cases, it might be associated with a slightly higher risk of certain complications compared to a central insertion.

* Circummarginate Placenta: This occurs when the chorionic plate (the fetal surface of the placenta) is slightly smaller than the basal plate (the maternal surface), leading to a raised ring of fibrin and decidua around the margin of the placenta. This is usually not clinically significant.

* Succenturiate Lobe: This is when there's a main placental disc, and then one or more smaller, separate lobes (or succenturiate lobes) are present, connected to the main placenta by blood vessels running through the membranes. It's important for healthcare providers to ensure all lobes are delivered after birth to prevent complications.

* Circumvallate Placenta: Similar to circummarginate, but more pronounced. The chorionic plate is smaller than the basal plate, causing the membranes to fold back and form a thick, raised ring around the periphery of the placenta. This can sometimes be associated with a higher risk of complications like preterm labor or placental abruption.

* Bilobate Placenta (Bipartite Placenta): As the name suggests, this placenta is divided into two distinct lobes, usually of equal size, connected by a bridge of vessels and membranes. Similar to a succenturiate lobe, it's crucial to ensure both lobes are expelled during the third stage of labor.

It's important to remember that many of these variations are discovered during prenatal ultrasounds and are often not a cause for concern. Your healthcare provider will monitor your pregnancy closely regardless of any placental variations. Learning about these aspects helps us appreciate the complexity and adaptability of the human body during pregnancy!

08/30/2025

Much to be seen through this story...

A Utah judge has awarded a family nearly $1 BILLION in damages after finding a hospital botched the delivery of their baby girl, resulting in severe, lifelong disabilities for the child.

According to the family’s 2021 lawsuit, the couple was on a brief getaway from their Wyoming home when Anyssa Zancanella went into labor on October 12, 2019, leading them to the nearby hospital. The suit alleged that newly trained nurses administered excessive doses of the labor-inducing drug Pitocin over an extended period, ignoring warning signs such as the baby’s elevated blood pressure and the mother’s fever.

Despite these red flags, the on-call doctor reportedly continued sleeping in an adjacent room after being briefly informed.

Baby Azaylee was not delivered until more than a day later via an emergency C-section. The newborn emerged with a misshapen head, facial swelling, and bruising, and was immediately airlifted to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City due to oxygen deprivation during labor.

Because of this Azaylee requires round-the-clock care for frequent seizures, is mostly non-verbal, and lacks the cognitive abilities typical for her age. Medical experts predict she will never drive, attend college, or hold a job independently.

And after his ruling Judge Corum took it even further describing the hospital as “the most dangerous place on the planet” for Zancanella to give birth, adding that she “would have been better off delivering this baby at the bathroom of a gas station, or in a hut somewhere in Africa.”

But the words Anyssa Zancanella are simply heartbreaking.

“Azaylee had her life stolen. We all did. We had her taken from us. She is trapped. I know that my daughter is in there, but she can’t come out and I think of that every day.”

08/29/2025

Wow! 💜

08/27/2025

Remind the mothers of this!

📖OUR HEALTH STARTS AT BIRTH📖

During a vaginal delivery, your baby travels down the birth canal receiving microbes that play an important role in shaping a newborn’s immune system and helping baby ward off disease. Your baby takes in beneficial bacteria that colonizes their gut and establishes their microbiome.

Bacteria function to ferment unused energy substrates, stimulate the immune system, prevent growth of pathogenic bacteria, regulate development of the gut and produce vitamins.

But babies born by via cesarean miss out on this important trip down the birth canal.

Research indicates babies born via c-section are at a slightly higher risk for:
📌immune & metabolic disorders
📌food allergies
📌asthma
📌infections
📌obesity
📌diabetes

The belief is that the astounding cesarean rate and babies not receiving these healthy bacterias, has lead to an increase in unhealthy humans which will eventually cripple our medical system.

Can we pass on these same microbes to a baby who missed a trip down the birth canal? Yes, it’s called vaginal seeding, or microbirthing. How is vaginal seeding done?
💚get tested for STDs or Group B streptococcus
💚wear clean gloves
💚apply saline water to sterile gauze
💚place the gauze in a fan shape inside mother or birthers vaginal canal and leave it there to colonize for 1 hour before your belly birth
💚remove gauze and place in a sterile cup
💚once baby is born via cesarean, use the gauze to wipe baby all over (eyes, mouth, a**s, head, body)
💚exclusively breastfeed

🧡Let’s be clear on the risk: If a parent has an infection, such as Group B Strep or an STD, it can be passed on to an infant and cause health complications. However, this is no different than the risks of vaginal delivery. With proper testing for infections in mom, a talk with your provider about vaginal seeding, this can be an option for any family🧡

🖊 ACOG currently does not recommend vaginal seeding outside of a controlled research setting. The practice should only be performed as part of an Institutional Review Board (IRB)–approved research protocol. If a patient insists on doing it independently, ACOG recommends:
• A thorough, documented discussion about the potential risks, especially the possible transmission of pathogens.
• Risk screening for infections like Group B Streptococcus, Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhea, and herpes simplex virus.  
• The newborn’s pediatrician should be made aware, due to the theoretical risk of neonatal infection. 🖊

The evidence on vaginal seeding is very limited, mostly based on small pilot studies with short-term follow-up. There’s no clear proof that vaginal seeding reduces long-term risks like asthma, allergies, or obesity but some families decide to move forward with seeding despite not having clear evidence.

-Love,
Flor Cruz
Badassmotherbirther

08/17/2025

There are two sides of everything.

P L A C E N T A❤️
the only temporary organ, a multifunctional organ, acting as baby's lungs to supply oxygen, kidneys to filter out waste, and as gastrointestinal and immune systems by delivering nutrients and antibodies.
• MATERNAL SIDE:
attached to uterine wall
• FETAL SIDE:
connected to baby via umbilical cord
✨The placenta detaches from the inside of the uterus after the baby is born, this leaves behind a wound 6-8 inches in diameter that needs time for healing to ward off infection and hemorrhaging—at least 4-6 weeks for the wound to completely heal.
One of the many reasons mamas need lots of rest and community care to recover & heal✨
・・・