Facts
- Each year about 0.5 million women die due to pregnancy and childbirth, 7 million have serious long term complications, and 50 million have negative outcomes following delivery
Stages of childbirth
Childbirth
a method of giving birth to a baby in which the mother chooses not to use drugs to reduce pain or to make the birth happen more quickly
Functions
The placenta begins to grow from around the 3rd week of life and continues throughout pregnancy.
The placenta serves as an interface between the mother and the developing fetus and has three main jobs:
- Attach the fetus to the uterine wall
- Provide nutrients to the fetus
- Allow the fetus to transfer waste products to the mother's blood
Placenta
- composite structure of embryonic and maternal tissues that supplies nutrients to the developing embryo
- the placenta is a unique organ, found only in mammals, that allows the mother to provide a very large amount of nutrients to her offspring for an extended period of time before they are even born
Structure of the placenta
Childbirth and Placenta functions & structure