The peculiarity of the placenta is that it appears in the body of a woman only during pregnancy, fulfills its most important role, allowing to bear the child, and then completely disappears.
When is the placenta formed?
Placenta begins to form in the second week of intrauterine development of the fetus. During 3-6 weeks it is intensively formed, gradually acquiring a disk form, which becomes most pronounced by week 12. If you want to understand what the placenta looks like, imagine a cake. Just it reminds this body.
Location of the placenta
As a rule, the placenta is located on the back or front wall of the uterus, near its upper sections. By the third trimester of the term from the edge of the placenta to the internal pharynx of the cervix, the distance should be more than six centimeters. Otherwise, it is said that there is a low attachment of the placenta. If the placenta overlaps the internal pharynx - it is a different pathology - presentation.
Structure of the placenta
The structure of the placenta is very complicated. In it, the blood vessel systems of mother and child converge. Both systems are separated by a membrane, otherwise called the placental barrier. The placenta is simultaneously the organ of both the pregnant woman and the fetus.
Functions of the placenta
- Transportation of oxygen through the mother's blood to the fetus. Correspondingly, in the opposite direction, carbon dioxide is transported.
- Transfer to the fetus of nutrients necessary for its life and development.
- Protection of the fetus from infections.
- Synthesis of hormones that are responsible for the normal course of pregnancy.
Maturity of the placenta by week
It is accepted to distinguish four degrees of maturity of the placenta depending on the gestational age:
- 0 - less than 30 weeks;
- 1 - 30-34 weeks;
- 2 - 34-39 weeks;
- 3 - after 37 weeks.
Norm of thickness of the placenta
The placenta is purposefully examined for thickness after the 20th week of pregnancy with ultrasound. There are certain standards that the placenta must match in pregnancy by thickness. It is believed that the thickness of the placenta should be equal to the duration of pregnancy, plus or minus 2 millimeters. For example, if your period is 25 weeks, the thickness of the placenta should be 23-27 millimeters.
Pathologies of the placenta
Today, the pathological conditions of the placenta are noted quite often. Among the typical pathologies are:
- placenta previa;
- tight attachment;
- low placenta in pregnancy;
- swelling of the placenta;
- placental abruption;
- increment of the placenta;
- placental infarcts;
- early or late maturation of the placenta;
- pleated placenta;
- an increase or a serious decrease in the size of the placenta;
- infectious inflammation of the placenta;
- tumors of the placenta;
- intraplacental thrombi and so on.
Dysfunction of the placenta
This pathology is also called fetoplacental insufficiency. Dysfunction is characterized by a disorder
The risk of fetoplacental insufficiency rises in the presence of chronic diseases, infections, diseases of the genital area, smoking and alcohol abuse.
Thus, it is quite obvious that the correct development of the placenta for a woman is extremely important, since throughout the pregnancy this body solves the most serious problems. It is necessary to carry out systematic monitoring of the placenta with ultrasound and, if there are any deviations from the norms, to start timely treatment.