The placenta is the only organ in a woman's body that performs the most important functions, but at the same time it is temporary. In the process of carrying a baby, you cannot do without it, but after the birth of a child, there is no need for it. Much depends on the structure of the placenta and its location during pregnancy: the characteristics of gestation, the method of delivery. How the placenta attaches in the female body, and what it affects, we will tell in this article.
Structure and function
If you translate the Latin word placenta, you get a "cake". This is what this organ looks like. The people call it a "child's place". The placenta does not begin to form immediately after the conception of the baby, but only after 8-10 days, when the fertilized egg descends into the uterine cavity and attaches to its inner wall with the help of chorionic villi (part of the fetal membrane).
From this moment on, the chorion, the precursor of the placenta, is responsible for feeding the embryo, supplying it with oxygen and producing the hormones necessary for bearing the fetus. The placenta itself forms gradually and begins to act from about 13-14 weeks of pregnancy. Grows "child's place" until the middle of the second trimester, then its growth stops, and the placenta begins to gradually "fade away", "age". By childbirth, she completely depletes her resource and is born 15-60 minutes after the birth of the baby.
The structure of the placenta is quite complex, and each layer provides its own functions. In general, it is a spongy organ densely saturated with a network of blood vessels communicating with lacunae filled with maternal blood. The importance of the placenta for a growing baby can hardly be overestimated - it protects the baby by creating a hemoplacental barrier.
The "baby seat" passes antibodies produced by the mother's immunity to the baby in the womb, which provides the child with innate passive immunity. Some not the most useful substances that enter the mother's body are blocked and retained by one of the layers of the placenta, not allowing them to reach the baby.
The placenta nourishes the baby by performing the functions of gas exchange. Oxygen is supplied to the baby from mother's blood through the "child's place", and carbon dioxide is removed. Giving the child access to vitamins and minerals, as well as water, the placenta removes the metabolic products of the crumbs back into the mother's body - urea, creatine and creatinine.
During pregnancy, the "baby's place" is also an endocrine gland - it produces some of the hormones necessary for the maintenance of pregnancy and the development of the fetus. First of all, this is hCG, produced immediately after implantation with chorionic villi, as well as placental lactogen, which is necessary to prepare the mammary glands for the upcoming breastfeeding. The placenta produces prolactin, which is responsible for the lactation process, progesterone, which is responsible for maintaining pregnancy and preventing menstruation, as well as serotonin, estrogens and relaxin.
The placenta is conditionally divided into two parts - the fetal part, which is located on the side of the child, and the maternal part, adjacent to the wall of the uterus. The umbilical cord is attached to the central part of the placenta from the fruit side - a strong cord connecting directly the fetus and the "child's place".
Location types
The placenta in the uterus is formed where the ovum was able to gain a foothold at the time of implantation. Much in this delicate process depends on the state of health of the woman, on the state of the endometrium, hormonal levels, the general state of the reproductive system of the expectant mother, as well as on the correct formation of the ovum.
The optimal and correct is the attachment of the chorion (and subsequently the placenta) along the anterior or posterior wall of the uterus closer to its bottom. The bottom is not at the bottom, as it might seem at first glance, but at the very top of the uterus.
The farther from the exit to the vagina the "baby's place" is, the better the pregnancy will be and the more optimistic the forecasts for the upcoming birth will be.
If a woman has endometriosis, fibroids, there are abnormalities in the structure of the uterus, if she has previously performed abortions, has postoperative scars on the uterus, then it is quite possible that the fertilized egg will not be able to gain a foothold in a suitable place and will go lower. Then the attachment will be low and subsequently can cause pathologies such as placenta previa, its marginal attachment.
Some experts argue that the place of attachment of the ovum is affected not only by the health of the expectant mother, her bad habits and fetal factors, but also by gravity. The essence of the theory is that the embryo with a high degree of probability will gain a foothold where it has more chances to be - if a woman prefers to sleep on her left side, then the ovum will be located on the left side of the uterus. However, conclusive scientific evidence for this theory does not yet exist.
However, it is known for sure that the fetus will never gain a foothold where it is unsafe and inconvenient to develop and grow. If there are tumors in the uterus, scars, then the ovum will bypass them with surprising accuracy and find another place for itself, perhaps not always normal, from the point of view of doctors, because of the danger of complications during gestation and childbirth.
With the normal location of the placenta, the growing uterus creates the most favorable conditions for the development of the baby - as it grows, the edges of the placenta move to the lateral parts of the uterus, and the blood supply becomes more intense, sufficient and provides all the needs of a tiny organism.
Placenta previa, in which the "baby's place" is at the very bottom, completely or partially blocking the exit to the small pelvis, is a serious and dangerous pathology that threatens miscarriage, premature birth, as well as the development of severe bleeding in the event of its spontaneous detachment, which can cause death of mother and fetus. Marginal attachment is a less dangerous, but also pathological variant of location.
The lower location of the placenta, in which it does not affect the entrance to the cervical canal of the cervix and does not block the exit to the small pelvis, although it is considered pathological, has a more favorable prognosis. The growing uterus stimulates the rise (migration) of the placenta higher, which occurs in the vast majority of cases.
Let's take a closer look at some of the most common types of location for a "child's seat".
On the front wall
On the front wall of the uterus, the ovum is usually attached to women who have already carried and gave birth to babies. Primiparous women are less likely to experience placentation along the anterior wall. In itself, such an arrangement is considered a variant of the norm and does not need treatment. Low anterior location is a risk factor in terms of the likelihood of placental abruption, but this location of the “child's seat” is quite rare.
If the placenta is located on the front wall, the woman usually feels fetal movements later than others, the movements themselves are not so strong and pronounced. But this fact, of course, will delight the expectant mother in the late stages of gestation, when there is little free space in the uterus, and the babies begin to kick painfully.
On the back wall
On the back wall, the "baby seat" is most often located. This is the classic standard. The back wall of the uterus in the upper part (closer to the bottom) is best supplied with blood. The placenta, located at the back, does not prevent a woman from feeling the first movements of her baby early. In addition, the placenta located on the back wall is more difficult to injure in the event of a fall or blunt trauma.
Low location
Low attachment is said if the edge of the placenta is only 6 centimeters above the internal os of the uterus. If the baby is too active, he can damage the "baby seat", the weight of the growing fetus will also be a risk factor for premature placental abruption.
Low placentation threatens the development of fetal hypoxia if partial detachment occurs, and can also interfere with natural childbirth... Women in whom the placenta does not rise as the gestation period increases (about 3%), does not migrate, usually give birth through surgery, they undergo a cesarean section.
Presentation
If the edge of the placenta closes the internal pharynx by about a third, they speak of partial or incomplete presentation, but if the "child's place" closes it completely, this dense, total presentation is an unconditional and undoubted indication for a caesarean section.
Such a complication threatens the occurrence of bleeding during childbearing, and it is also dangerous in the event of the onset of spontaneous labor, the occurrence of massive bleeding, the development of acute hypoxia in the baby, his death, as well as the death of the mother as a result of blood loss.
Additional (additional) placenta lobe
This pathology is found in about 8% of pregnant women. The placenta with an additional lobule consists of a large body and a small one, which are connected by blood vessels and a membrane. The umbilical cord is always attached to the large lobe. During the carrying of a child, the additional lobule does not pose a particular danger, but in childbirth it risks exfoliating, causing bleeding.
Obstetricians, taking urgent delivery, do not always know for sure about the presence of an additional lobe, and it may well remain in the uterine cavity after childbirth. This situation will require additional scraping, since the woman will begin to develop a strong inflammatory process.
In the early stages, the additional share is not visible to anyone, because the placenta takes on the shape only by the fourth month.
It is important to establish an appropriate diagnosis before delivery, so that there are no complications of the postpartum period.
Can the placenta attachment be affected?
Neither the woman herself, nor the best and most experienced doctors are able to influence where the ovum will eventually attach, and where the placenta begins to form. But a woman can take care of the normal course of her pregnancy in advance, preventing risk factors for the wrong location of the "child's seat".
First of all, this concerns the observance of intimate hygiene and visiting a doctor. A constant sexual partner and an attentive attitude to your health will help to avoid infections and sexually transmitted diseases, which significantly increase the likelihood of previa or low placenta location.
Bad habits (smoking and alcohol) should be quit even at the planning stage of the baby. All diseases of the gynecological profile must be carefully examined and treated to the end, since old "female sores" can affect the state of the endometrium of the uterus and play a negative role in implantation of the ovum.
Abortions and curettage do not pass without leaving a trace for the condition of the inner shell of the female reproductive organ. They are best avoided.
It is important to plan the second, third, fourth and subsequent pregnancies after a doctor's examination, because with each subsequent pregnancy, the likelihood of an abnormal location of the placenta increases. If in previous pregnancies the placenta was lower or was present, a doctor's consultation is required - often a relapse of such phenomena occurs.
Taking medications that are not prescribed or approved by a doctor, especially antibiotics, hormonal drugs, hemostatics before conception or a month before planning conception, can also affect not only the location of the placenta, but also its structural features.
In order not to have problems with placentation after conceiving a long-awaited baby, a woman does not need to experience serious physical overload, lift weights, special attention should be paid to preliminary treatment and correction of diseases such as diabetes mellitus and thyroid diseases.
For what the placenta is, see the next video.
