the placenta is amazing.
There is really no other way to describe it. Can we talk about the fact that the female body creates and disposes of AN ENTIRE ORGAN... for every child? How amazing is that?! We can't ignore how perfect the human body works. As a birth photographer, I'm always surprised to find that most mamas I talk to, have never been shown their placenta. Nor have they held the cord or felt it pulsate. As an expecting mother, you spend an entire pregnancy creating your placenta and housing/feeding your child with it. You should get to view its marvel. A lot of the time someone cuts the cord quickly and the hospital wisps the placenta away like waste. In fact, that is exactly how my first birth was. The Dr. wanted the cord cut quickly despite my requests to delay and took my placenta away. I never even saw it. What an opportunity it would have been to take the time to educate me, as a new mother. It wasn't until the midwife that attended my nephew's birth, held it up for my sister in law, as you can see in this picture, that I had seen one in person. I was amazed. This organ grew, housed and fed an entire human. Then was released after the job was done. WOW. I know some people have no interest in it or may be a bit squeamish. But myself, I would have loved to learn about it. I had no idea the sack looked like that. I had no idea how it attached to the uterus. I knew nearly nothing.
I also had very little idea about the benefits to delaying cord clamping. Upon researching online, I found that most sources state that waiting 30 seconds to a minute is considered "delayed cord clamping" and is common practice. They also state it should be done before the placenta is delivered. Isn't it crazy to think that we as a society have excepted that quick cut off time as "normal". When baby is born, the cord will continue to pulsate which in return is giving baby back the blood supply that is still in the placenta. Of course, there are some cases where it may be necessary to cut the cord quickly but in most births where things go well and both parties are doing well, delaying your cord clamping can be extremely beneficial! Let me tell you, 30 seconds to a minute is NOT "delayed". From what I had remembered from researching when I was pregnant with my oldest, 1/3 of the babies total blood was still in the placenta at birth. While double checking that information, I found this study
"Serial blood volume measurements were made in 27 normal full-term newborn infants using iodinated human albumin. At the moment of birth the newborn infant was estimated to have a blood volume of 78 ml/kg with a venous hematocrit of 48 %. When the cord-clamping was delayed for 5 minutes the blood volume increased by 61 % to 126 ml/kg. This placental transfusion amounted to 166 ml for a 3500 g infant, one-quarter of which occurred in the first 15 seconds, and one-half within 60 seconds of birth. Stripping of the umbilical cord 10 times during the 5 minutes did not increase the volume of the transfusion.
When the placental transfusion was prevented by immediate clamping of the cord, the blood volume did not change appreciably during the first 4 hours of life. On the other hand, there was a marked decrease in blood volume from 126 to 89 ml/kg during the first 4 hours in infants who had received a placental transfusion. This decrease was brought about by the transudation of one-half of the original plasma volume, so that the venous hematocrit rose from 48 % at birth to 64 % by 4 hours. " https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1651-2227.1963.tb03809.x
With that information, why would a medical professional push to cut it sooner without a medical emergency? I really opened my eyes to this while photographing home-births. It is pretty common to see a placenta attached until the cords stops or slows pulsating. There is rarely a rush. Some families even choose different methods outside of the medical scissors. Some do cord burning ceremonies or go as far as carrying the placenta around until it falls off naturally. This is called a lotus birth. I do believe everyone should do what works best for their family but I also think it's important to take a step back to research and make informed decisions. It's not uncommon for hospitals to hurry things along which is another blog for another day lol but you can be your own advocate as they do work for you! The human body knows what it is doing and has a clear purpose for every stage of that big day. Birth is a slow, beautiful process and should be treated if not CELEBRATED as such!
Placenta encapsulation
The idea of eating your placenta may be strange and to be honest, I initially felt almost cannibalistic. With my second child and first home-birth, I read a few books and more articles than I'd like to admit. Two of my favorites books, that I recommend to anyone that asks, are The Guide to Childbirth by the great Ina May and A Husband Coached Childbirth by Dr. Bradley himself. In those books, they talk about about nature and how birth is a natural process that has been happening since the beginning of time. They go on to talk about low intervention and refer back to animals and their need to find a dark, unbothered space in order to feel safe to bring their babies Earth-side. That was eye opening. Given my first birth was in hospital and I did not feel safe, listened to and was poked and prodded constantly. That also brought to me thinking about placenta encapsulation. Many animals eat their placenta after birth. Why is it so weird to think that some people do too? Honestly, I couldn't convince myself though and decided to skip it. After that birth, I developed extreme post-partum depression. I struggled with anxiety. I struggled with sleep. I struggled with connecting and feeling love for my new child. This went on for almost 2 years. I don't wish that battle on anyone! When I found out that I was pregnant with my 3rd child, I started looking into anything that would help prevent that from happening again. I restumbled on the idea of placenta encapsulation. Luckily my midwife in training at the time, offered this as a service. After talking to her, I decided to give it a try. They say there are benefits to prevent or lessen those depression dips as well as boosts to your iron. I also learned that it could boost milk supply and help you bounce back to a full recovery quicker. Now of course, I recommend researching and making the choice that works best for you. In my experience, I took them on days that I just felt down or unmotivated and they really did help! I can't say if it was a placebo thing or if it really worked but I don't regret it. Not only did I avoid depression, I got back to normal quickly and was able to nurse from almost 3 years. In addition, I have a tincture that can be stored for a long time filled with stem cells to help with future sickness etc. Although encapsulating may be a bit much for some people, I think we can all agree there is nothing like the placenta. It truly is amazing!
