the potent placenta
September 3, 2019 9:25 AM Subscribe
"In the hospital with pre-eclampsia, I asked the doctors and nurses caring for me for an explanation. My pregnancy was normal, and I was healthy. Why was this happening? Their responses were vague: “It’s something with your placenta.” “It’s not well understood.” I became obsessed with placentas in the hospital, when no one could tell me what went wrong with mine." Daniela Blei writes for The Cut on the promise of the Human Placenta Project.
Thanks for sharing this! I'm in the home stretch of my third pregnancy and am pretty sure I'm done after this so I'm sad this work won't affect me except inasmuch as I'm PLACENTA OBSESSED and can't wait to learn more about them.
posted by potrzebie at 10:36 AM on September 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by potrzebie at 10:36 AM on September 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
We as a society definitely don't talk enough about placentas.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:56 AM on September 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by tobascodagama at 10:56 AM on September 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
It is overwhelming (but not surprising) that one of the organ's responsible in creating literally every human being that has existed since time began has no thorough research on it. I mean for fucks sake, men.
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:45 AM on September 3, 2019 [21 favorites]
posted by FirstMateKate at 11:45 AM on September 3, 2019 [21 favorites]
When I was pregnant one of my favorite questions for a while was "who is the placenta? is it me, is it the fetus, is it something else?"
Nobody in my family or friend circle could answer it but eventually my doula said it was genetically identical to the fetus.
Your body grows a whole organ that isn't even you! And then spits it out after the baby. So weird.
Now off to read the article...
posted by Lawn Beaver at 12:15 PM on September 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
Nobody in my family or friend circle could answer it but eventually my doula said it was genetically identical to the fetus.
Your body grows a whole organ that isn't even you! And then spits it out after the baby. So weird.
Now off to read the article...
posted by Lawn Beaver at 12:15 PM on September 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
This is one of those posts where the first thing I wonder about is why the US has so many more cases of pre-eclampsia than other developed nations. There is no answer to this at all, mainly because it doesn't seem the research is asking that question. Maybe because black women are more vulnerable.
I googled placenta in Danish, and the first two pages were all about eating it, with the next two being half and half science and eating. That's just weird.
posted by mumimor at 12:28 PM on September 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
I googled placenta in Danish, and the first two pages were all about eating it, with the next two being half and half science and eating. That's just weird.
posted by mumimor at 12:28 PM on September 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
And then spits it out after the baby.
You'd think, but actually it's even better than that - - the placenta invades the uterine wall so deeply that it can't completely separate itself out again, and cells from it remain in a mother forever after giving birth. Bodies are sold.
posted by sciatrix at 1:01 PM on September 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
You'd think, but actually it's even better than that - - the placenta invades the uterine wall so deeply that it can't completely separate itself out again, and cells from it remain in a mother forever after giving birth. Bodies are sold.
posted by sciatrix at 1:01 PM on September 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
No, I KNOW - genetic material from my child is floating around inside me right now!!! Holy shit.
A friend here in Ohio had her second baby a couple of years ago and the placenta did not come all the way out so she almost died, whee. Health care in the rural US is a crapshoot! That placenta was firmly attached! A midwife AND a doctor both missed it!
I remember that they looked closely at my placenta after my kid was born and then showed it to me. At the time, feeling fuzzy, I was all hey, I'm a bit crunchy but not that crunchy, like, you don't really need to point out how beautiful this temp organ is. BUT now I know they examine it to make sure it all came out. An important part of post-natal care! Make sure there's no chunk of organ left behind and causing you to hemorrhage.
Also, I kept mine because it was mine and I felt possessive about it. But no way did I eat any part of it. That shit got buried under a beautiful plant at my sister's house (I was renting at the time) and the plant moved with her to her new place.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:24 PM on September 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
A friend here in Ohio had her second baby a couple of years ago and the placenta did not come all the way out so she almost died, whee. Health care in the rural US is a crapshoot! That placenta was firmly attached! A midwife AND a doctor both missed it!
I remember that they looked closely at my placenta after my kid was born and then showed it to me. At the time, feeling fuzzy, I was all hey, I'm a bit crunchy but not that crunchy, like, you don't really need to point out how beautiful this temp organ is. BUT now I know they examine it to make sure it all came out. An important part of post-natal care! Make sure there's no chunk of organ left behind and causing you to hemorrhage.
Also, I kept mine because it was mine and I felt possessive about it. But no way did I eat any part of it. That shit got buried under a beautiful plant at my sister's house (I was renting at the time) and the plant moved with her to her new place.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:24 PM on September 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
When the doctors finally sent me home, they urged me to stay vigilant. You’re not out of the woods yet they said.Yes, that's our lovely U.S. "healthcare" "system." I wish I had a dollar for every time I've been kicked out of the hospital while I still needed care.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:40 PM on September 3, 2019 [13 favorites]
I wish I had a dollar for every time I've been kicked out of the hospital while I still needed care.
I guess technically the insurance companies DO have (at least) a dollar for every time that happens.
Anyway, good evening to everyone except the asshole who did my c-sec and missed part of my placenta and I got to hemorrhage it out a week later and still am not sure how close I was to dying but I think it was a lot closer than I should have been.
posted by emjaybee at 2:27 PM on September 3, 2019 [9 favorites]
I guess technically the insurance companies DO have (at least) a dollar for every time that happens.
Anyway, good evening to everyone except the asshole who did my c-sec and missed part of my placenta and I got to hemorrhage it out a week later and still am not sure how close I was to dying but I think it was a lot closer than I should have been.
posted by emjaybee at 2:27 PM on September 3, 2019 [9 favorites]
You don't want to hang around in hospitals if you don't absolutely have to. They're basically factories churning out nasty new strains of drug-resistant pathogens. Every day you're an inpatient you're rolling the dice on picking up c. diff or another nosocomial infection, so the sooner you can get out—leave.
There's naturally a whole vile financial/insurance angle too, of course, because America™, but the idea that you should get out as soon as you're able and do as much of your recovery as possible at home has some solid evidence behind it.
posted by Kadin2048 at 3:24 PM on September 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
There's naturally a whole vile financial/insurance angle too, of course, because America™, but the idea that you should get out as soon as you're able and do as much of your recovery as possible at home has some solid evidence behind it.
posted by Kadin2048 at 3:24 PM on September 3, 2019 [6 favorites]
When I was pregnant one of my favorite questions for a while was "who is the placenta? is it me, is it the fetus, is it something else?"
Nobody in my family or friend circle could answer it but eventually my doula said it was genetically identical to the fetus...
posted by Lawn Beaver
The placenta is entirely designed by the genes that come from the male. The placenta, like the embryo is comprised of tissue that has genes from both parents. However the only genes in the placenta that are active are from the male. The genes of the female don't matter whatsoever or have any effect on how the placenta develops. The placenta is actually essentially part of the dad. And this is why there is a competition between the mother and the fetus. Only women who are capable of surviving a voracious placenta inside them live to pass on their genes. But it's worth it for the male gene to take significant risk with the life of the mother, because he can always try again three days later.
I suspect that the increase in eclampsia in the States is because women may be going into their pregnancies with the systems that control blood sugar and blood pressure already damaged by the western diet. Gestational diabetes, for example is more likely to occur in women who are pre-diabetic and have higher triglyceride levels, and is worse in women who are already diabetic.
If I were going to get pregnant again I would be extremely interested in the pregnancy history of my partner's mother. There is some evidence that as well as eclampsia and gestational diabetes, morning sickness depends on genes provided by the male.
posted by Jane the Brown at 3:31 PM on September 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
Nobody in my family or friend circle could answer it but eventually my doula said it was genetically identical to the fetus...
posted by Lawn Beaver
The placenta is entirely designed by the genes that come from the male. The placenta, like the embryo is comprised of tissue that has genes from both parents. However the only genes in the placenta that are active are from the male. The genes of the female don't matter whatsoever or have any effect on how the placenta develops. The placenta is actually essentially part of the dad. And this is why there is a competition between the mother and the fetus. Only women who are capable of surviving a voracious placenta inside them live to pass on their genes. But it's worth it for the male gene to take significant risk with the life of the mother, because he can always try again three days later.
I suspect that the increase in eclampsia in the States is because women may be going into their pregnancies with the systems that control blood sugar and blood pressure already damaged by the western diet. Gestational diabetes, for example is more likely to occur in women who are pre-diabetic and have higher triglyceride levels, and is worse in women who are already diabetic.
If I were going to get pregnant again I would be extremely interested in the pregnancy history of my partner's mother. There is some evidence that as well as eclampsia and gestational diabetes, morning sickness depends on genes provided by the male.
posted by Jane the Brown at 3:31 PM on September 3, 2019 [8 favorites]
retroviruses. There is evidence that retroviruses led to the development of the placenta.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/endogenous-retroviruses/
posted by poe at 3:32 PM on September 3, 2019
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/endogenous-retroviruses/
posted by poe at 3:32 PM on September 3, 2019
I had a partial placental abruption towards the end of my 69 hours of labour, and honestly, I think that's fair play from my placenta.
posted by just_ducky at 3:50 PM on September 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by just_ducky at 3:50 PM on September 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
But it's worth it for the male gene to take significant risk with the life of the mother, because he can always try again three days later.
Three days later?
posted by amanda at 4:33 PM on September 3, 2019
Three days later?
posted by amanda at 4:33 PM on September 3, 2019
My high school gym teacher had a baby,brought the placenta in to show us. Basically, gross bloody tissue; can't say I learned anything. My then daughter-in-law had her(their?) placenta dried and encapsulated, and did eat it. I am skeptical. So, a condition kills women and has been barely studied, at all, huh, imagine that.
posted by theora55 at 6:24 PM on September 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 6:24 PM on September 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
No research on issues that mostimmediately affect women?
...for fucks sake, men.FOR FUCKS SAKE, MEN!
posted by BlueHorse at 6:46 PM on September 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
...for fucks sake, men.FOR FUCKS SAKE, MEN!
posted by BlueHorse at 6:46 PM on September 3, 2019 [5 favorites]
Three days later?
Average time it takes to build back up to peak sperm count after ejaculation, IIRC. Obviously, not all of the sperm will actually leave the male's body during ejaculation, so it's not like it's impossible to conceive during the three day window, but it's more likely after waiting a few days.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:17 PM on September 3, 2019
Average time it takes to build back up to peak sperm count after ejaculation, IIRC. Obviously, not all of the sperm will actually leave the male's body during ejaculation, so it's not like it's impossible to conceive during the three day window, but it's more likely after waiting a few days.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:17 PM on September 3, 2019
morning sickness depends on genes provided by the male.
posted by Jane the Brown at 3:31 PM on September 3 [5 favorites +] [!]
The dirty rats!
posted by Cranberry at 12:04 AM on September 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by Jane the Brown at 3:31 PM on September 3 [5 favorites +] [!]
The dirty rats!
posted by Cranberry at 12:04 AM on September 4, 2019 [4 favorites]
just wanted to note something about the article.
the article makes claims about Chinese beliefs/practices regarding placentophagy based on the opinion of a white (German) "traditional Chinese medicine scholar." the author of the article, together with the white "scholar", deny the practice of placentophagy as a Chinese practice, and pass it off as a sort of trendy white/Western fad popularized by Kim Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow, etc.
it is tiring to see white people on both sides quibble and make claims (either claiming credit for, or denying, and in most cases sensationalizing) about this Asian practice. Chinese/Asian placentophagy exists. I have many friends who practice it. This is not a weird thing in the culture I know. It is a normal thing. It is not a new, trendy, white-person fad. It is not an American/San Franciscan invention (as the article seems to imply). It is a normal and mundane thing that people in certain cultures (who have never been to the US, or heard of Goop) do after they give birth.
(the last time this topic came up on Metafilter (i think it was in a thread about Goop), it did not go that well in terms of discussion. remembering that thread, i probably won't be commenting further in this thread on this subject - but just wanted to at least say something about it and note that here.)
posted by aielen at 5:35 AM on September 4, 2019 [8 favorites]
the article makes claims about Chinese beliefs/practices regarding placentophagy based on the opinion of a white (German) "traditional Chinese medicine scholar." the author of the article, together with the white "scholar", deny the practice of placentophagy as a Chinese practice, and pass it off as a sort of trendy white/Western fad popularized by Kim Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow, etc.
it is tiring to see white people on both sides quibble and make claims (either claiming credit for, or denying, and in most cases sensationalizing) about this Asian practice. Chinese/Asian placentophagy exists. I have many friends who practice it. This is not a weird thing in the culture I know. It is a normal thing. It is not a new, trendy, white-person fad. It is not an American/San Franciscan invention (as the article seems to imply). It is a normal and mundane thing that people in certain cultures (who have never been to the US, or heard of Goop) do after they give birth.
(the last time this topic came up on Metafilter (i think it was in a thread about Goop), it did not go that well in terms of discussion. remembering that thread, i probably won't be commenting further in this thread on this subject - but just wanted to at least say something about it and note that here.)
posted by aielen at 5:35 AM on September 4, 2019 [8 favorites]
Okay, first of all, maternal mortality in the U.S. has DOUBLED in twenty years? I knew it was increasing but I had absolutely no idea it was that dramatic. That's just a horrifying statistic.
Second of all, my own crazy placenta story: my twins had a shared placenta and had a really bad case of twin to twin transfusion syndrome, which involves one twin pumping blood to the other one. So one is anemic and one has too much blood (which probably has a fancy medical name. Hypernemic? I got nothin').
Anyway after I delivered they showed me my placenta, half of which was pink and half of which was dark dark purple. It was absolutely crazy to look at -- even the doctors were kind of stunned by the extent of the difference. Now that everything's turned out fine I kind of almost wish I had a picture of it.
posted by gerstle at 7:36 PM on September 4, 2019 [7 favorites]
Second of all, my own crazy placenta story: my twins had a shared placenta and had a really bad case of twin to twin transfusion syndrome, which involves one twin pumping blood to the other one. So one is anemic and one has too much blood (which probably has a fancy medical name. Hypernemic? I got nothin').
Anyway after I delivered they showed me my placenta, half of which was pink and half of which was dark dark purple. It was absolutely crazy to look at -- even the doctors were kind of stunned by the extent of the difference. Now that everything's turned out fine I kind of almost wish I had a picture of it.
posted by gerstle at 7:36 PM on September 4, 2019 [7 favorites]
Harvey pla-Dent-a?
I got nuthin'.
I'll get me coat.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:06 PM on September 4, 2019
I got nuthin'.
I'll get me coat.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:06 PM on September 4, 2019
My children's placentas attached to the front of my wife's uterus, so we were mostly deprived getting to feel the babies moving and kicking before they were born.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 6:14 AM on September 5, 2019
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 6:14 AM on September 5, 2019
>>>... So one is anemic and one has too much blood (which probably has a fancy medical name. Hypernemic? I got nothin').
"One is anemic and one is" polycythemic?
According to Dr. Google, consulted when I should be doing something else at work, polycythemia, "the opposite of anemia ... formally exists when the hemoglobin, red blood cell (RBC) count, and total RBC volume are all above normal."
posted by virago at 9:26 AM on September 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
"One is anemic and one is" polycythemic?
According to Dr. Google, consulted when I should be doing something else at work, polycythemia, "the opposite of anemia ... formally exists when the hemoglobin, red blood cell (RBC) count, and total RBC volume are all above normal."
posted by virago at 9:26 AM on September 5, 2019 [1 favorite]
fantabulous timewaster, speaking as someone who's had two anterior placenta pregnancies and one with more conventional placement, your wife should count her blessings. Having that placenta right out in front there to cushion the blow means much lower probability that you wake up gasping in pain at 3am wondering if this is the time the baby really did manage to break your rib.
posted by potrzebie at 9:56 PM on September 6, 2019
posted by potrzebie at 9:56 PM on September 6, 2019
Chinese/Asian placentophagy exists
My Southeast Asian culture is closer to Lawn Beaver's practice: we bury it. Though customarily it's for fathers to do, because recovering mothers would be in their official period of recovery, or confinement. And you wash it first with salt and lime/tamarind/the other kind of sour fruit. Just throwing it out there, though maybe I should copyright the intellectual property first...
posted by cendawanita at 2:31 AM on September 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
My Southeast Asian culture is closer to Lawn Beaver's practice: we bury it. Though customarily it's for fathers to do, because recovering mothers would be in their official period of recovery, or confinement. And you wash it first with salt and lime/tamarind/the other kind of sour fruit. Just throwing it out there, though maybe I should copyright the intellectual property first...
posted by cendawanita at 2:31 AM on September 7, 2019 [2 favorites]
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I want to understand them better. Man. When I don't have a talk coming up, I want to spend some time looking at what we know about the evolution of placentas. I've definitely had ambitions to study maternal provisioning in mammals and ongoing effects in the past, but had been hindered by a number of things--not least the fact that rodents tend to have a pretty low threshold to nope out on bringing up any given litter and tend to eat pups when stressed, and my study animals have litter sizes of just 2-3 pups on average. One eaten pup is way too many.
posted by sciatrix at 9:33 AM on September 3, 2019 [7 favorites]