Essay On Placenta

• The placenta at term: The expelled placenta is a flattened discoidal mass with an approximately circular or oval outline, with an;
• Average volume 500ml (range 200-950ml)
• Average weight 500 gms (range 200-800 gms)
• Average diameter 185 mm (range 150-200mm)
• Average surface area 30,000 mm3
• Average thickness 23 mm (range 10-40 mm).13,14,15,16

a) Fetal surface :
A smooth glistening amnion covers the fetal surface with an umbilical cord attached at or near the centre. Beneath the amnion branches of umbilical vessels are visible because they radiate from the insertion of the cord. About four fifth of placenta at term is of fetal origin.13
b) Maternal surface :
The maternal portion accounts for one fifth of the total placenta. It

The umbilical cord length is measured.9
Naeye opines that all placentae should be examined grossly and an immediate microscopic examination indicated for those cases with adverse pregnancy outcome are when placenta is grossly abnormal.17
Driscoll supports this view that the obstetrician should grossly examine all placentas and triage those placentae requiring further gross and microscopic study by a pathologist.18
The placentae are then sent to the pathologist for further gross and microscopic examination. In some institutions, all placentae are sent to the pathologist who carries out the examination in those cases in which it is requested by the obstetrician. The remaining placentae are stored in the refrigerator at 40C. for 7 days. Those placentas on which the clinician subsequently requests a complete pathological examination can be retrieved. 9,19
In the current study, in our institution placentas from patients with inclusion criteria were processed and studied for histopathological