The placenta is an organ that develops in your uterus to support the fetus during pregnancy. It usually attaches to the top or the side of the uterus and grows at a rate comparable to the fetus at first. At as early as 10 weeks, the placenta can be picked up on an ultrasound. By halfway through a healthy pregnancy, it?s about 15 centimetres in diameter (the size of a side plate), and by the end it doubles to become about the size of a Frisbee and the weight of a block and a half of butter.
The placenta?s main job is to transfer oxygen and nutrients from the mother?s blood to the baby through the umbilical cord, which connects the placenta to the baby. It also transfers the baby’s waste, moving gases like carbon dioxide from the baby?s blood to the mother?s.
Doctors measure the health of the placenta by looking at the health of the fetus.?We look at the baby and the blood flow through the cord,? says Edmonton-based OB/GYN Andrea Neilson. ?If babies are moving and growing well, and your doctor says the pregnancy is going well, then most women don?t have to be worried about the functioning of their placenta.? Taking care of your health during pregnancy will also lead to a healthy placenta and therefore a healthy baby.
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