Melanie Raposo: Hi! Everybody, I am Melanie Raposo and welcome to Mommy's Minute. The placenta is a temporary organ that forms inside of the uterus during pregnancy and helps to nourish your baby. The placenta acts as a transferring agent, without it your baby would not be able, to receive the oxygen and nutrients that it needs. It also acts as a filter to keep out waste and chemicals from your blood out of your baby's system.
However the placenta doest not protect against certain dangers like cigarettes smoking, alcohol and certain medications. The placenta also provides hormonal support throughout pregnancy. It releases estrogen, progesterone and HCG into your blood stream to help make sure, your body goes through the proper changes.
After you deliver your baby, you will then deliver the placenta within 30 minutes of birth. After that usually, the placenta is just thrown out. But in many countries, there is actually rich traditions surrounding the placenta.
To find out what some of these fascinating traditions are, watch our placental traditions video only on thepregnancyshow.com.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services