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Placenta

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Mutaganda Ami fidele
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170 views5 pages

Placenta

Uploaded by

Mutaganda Ami fidele
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Placenta: An Introduction

The placenta is a developing organ in the uterus during pregnancy. This structure
provides oxygen and nutrients to a growing baby. It also cleans the baby's blood of
waste products. The placenta attaches to the uterine wall and gives rise to the baby's
umbilical cord.

It also produces a variety of pregnancy-related hormones, including lactogen,


oestrogen and progesterone. Placentas are a distinguishing feature of placental
mammals, but they are also found in marsupials and some non-mammals at various
stages of development.

What is Placenta?
 Placentation is a Greek term that means "flat cake."
 The term "placenta" comes from the "human placenta", which is a flat, round
mass that resembles a pancake.
 In its broadest sense, this term refers to any region in a viviparous organism
where maternal and embryonic tissues of any type are closely apposed and serve
as a site for physiological exchange between parent and embryo.
 It is a temporary organ.
 The placenta performs the functions of the embryo's lung, intestine, kidney and
endocrine glands.
 It allows for the exchange of substances between maternal and foetal blood.

Structure of Placenta
 Both maternal and embryonic tissue make up the placenta.
 The chorion is the embryonic component of the placenta. It is composed of
trophoblasts i.e. the cells that form the blastocyst's outer cell layer.
 The placenta is foetal tissue that is embedded in the uterine wall and perfused
with maternal blood via the uterine spiral arteries.
 The decidua beneath the embryo is known as the decidua basalis, and it forms
the maternal face of the placenta.
 The placenta is divided into three layers:
1. The amnion is the name given to the innermost placental layer that
surrounds the foetus.
2. The allantois is the placenta's middle layer (derived from the embryonic
hindgut); blood vessels from the umbilicus pass through this membrane.
3. The chorion, the placenta's outermost layer, comes into contact with the
endometrium. It is made up of two layers of cells: inner cytotrophoblast
and outer syncytiotrophoblast.
Structure of Human Placenta

Development of Placenta
 The placenta begins to develop very early in pregnancy, around week 4, with
the implantation of the blastocyst into the maternal endometrium.
 The blastocyst's outer layer develops into the trophoblast, which forms the
placenta's outer layer.
 The outer layer is further subdivided into two layers: the underlying
cytotrophoblast layer and the overlying syncytiotrophoblast layer.
 The syncytiotrophoblast is a continuous cell layer with multiple nuclei that
covers the surface of the placenta. It develops from the differentiation and
fusion of the underlying cytotrophoblast cells, a process that occurs throughout
placental development.
 As a result, the syncytiotrophoblast (also known as syncytium) contributes to
the placental barrier function.
 After about 12 weeks of pregnancy, the chorionic villi and uterine tissue
interdigitate and form the placenta, a structural and functional unit between the
developing embryo (foetus) and the maternal body.
 By the end of the first trimester of pregnancy, week 14, the maternal blood
supply to the placenta is complete.
Placental Development

Functions of Placenta
 The placenta acts as an important endocrine gland during pregnancy.
 Placental hormones include- oestrogen, progesterone, human chorionic
gonadotropin(hCG) and human placental lactogen (hPL).
 Placental hormones are required for pregnancy establishment and maintenance
as well as for foetal growth.
 It stores glycogen for the foetus prior to the formation of the liver.
 It allows selective diffusion, preventing the passage of harmful materials from
maternal blood to foetal blood.

Fun Facts about Placenta


 It is the only disposable organ i.e. it naturally expels itself once its function is
completed. Each pregnancy produces a new placenta to perfectly support the
baby.
 Many women consume their placenta after birth. Evidence suggests that mothers
who eat their placentas after birth experience a variety of benefits including
more balanced hormones, increased energy and milk supply, less postpartum
bleeding and replenished iron stores.
 The placenta has the unusual ability to grow and infiltrate the mother's body
without being attacked by her immune system. The placenta's ability to evade
the immune system is tightly controlled, and it knows when to stop infiltrating
so as to not cause any harm to the mother.
 The placenta is also known as the "tree of life", partly because of its life-
sustaining function but also because its veins resemble those of a tree.

Conclusion
The placenta is the lifeline that connects a mother and her child. It is in the organ that
the link between them is first established. Scientists believe that the placenta is the
least understood human organ, despite being one of the most important organs in the
body. This article gives insight into the structure known as the placenta which only
develops during the pregnancy. It also talks about the different layers of the placenta,
the role of the placenta, its developmental stages and its important functions.

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