What is Placenta?
The Placenta is a disc shaped organ which forms in uterus during pregnancy and remain attached to the
uterine wall. It contains numerous blood vessels and its main function is to supply blood to the unborn baby
from mother and at the same time keeps the unborn baby's blood supply separate from mother. The placenta
performs all the functions that the unborn baby cannot carry out by itself. It remains connected to the baby by the umbilical cord. The unborn baby remains inside a bag full of fluid made up of membranes and called 'amniotic sac'.
Functions :
The organ collects oxygen and nutrients from the blood stream of the mother which is carried to the embryo by the 'umbilical cord'. At the same time all waste products from the embryo like 'carbon dioxide' pass back through the 'umbilical cord' to the placenta, which in turn releases them into the mother's blood stream to be disposed of finally.
The placenta also provides protection to the unborn against infection but any toxic products like - alcohol, nicotine or drugs consumed by mother during pregnancy is also carried to the unborn baby by placenta. The organ also supplies antibodies to the unborn during the final phase of pregnancy, giving it immunity up to three months after birth.
After the birth of the baby, more contractions follow, stimulated by medicines and finally the placenta comes out through the vagina.
Complications :
Normally the placenta remains attached to the uterine wall. However, complication arises, when the organ attached itself so strongly to the 'uterine wall' that it becomes inseparable easily. 1 out of every 2500 to 3000 cases fall victim to this type of critical disorder. Depending on the severity of the situation, the disorder is divided as follows :
- Placenta Accreta : This type of complication arises when the placenta remains attached to the uterine wall too deep but does not penetrate the'uterine muscle'. This is the most common type of disorder and accounts for almost 75 per cent of all the cases.
- Placenta Increta : In this situation the placenta remains more firmly attached to the'uterine wall' and penetrates the 'uterine muscle'. This accounts for nearly 15 per cent of all the cases.
- Placenta Percreta : This is the most serious type of complication and only 5 per cent of all the cases falls under this category. In this situation the placenta actually invades the nearby organs like 'urinary bladder' after penetrating the 'uterine muscle'.
Prevention :
There is almost nothing that can be done to prevent this serious pregnancy disorder and almost no treatment at all after 'placenta accreta' has been diagnosed. Once diagnosed your Gynaecologist will monitor your pregnancy, fix a preferable time of delivery and attempt to perform that type of surgery that wll save the uterus.
Options Available :
Since sever bleeding is likely to happen while attempting to remove the placenta, it becomes much safer to remove the uterus along with the placenta after the birth of the baby. In case of women who opt for more babies the placenta may be left behind giving injections to block its blood supply but this option has met with limited success as this may lead to future infection or bleeding, according to experts who investigated many complicated cases of Pregnancy.
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