Trapped Placenta or Myth
I have so much fun working with our editor Cheryl. We share the same office, which has led to many great conversations about birth: Goat birth compared to human birth.
Cheryl has a herd of miniature dairy goats. They are little half-sized goats that still give a lot of milk. One day we were having a talk about placentas, specifically how long they take to come out after the birth. Cheryl said, “Sometimes goats don’t birth their placentas until the next day.” This led to a discussion of the idea that is rampant in obstetrics, and midwifery, that if you don’t get the placenta out in X amount of time--30 minutes, 60 minutes much less in some circles--it will get trapped because the cervix will close down.
This concept regarding human physiology didn’t seem right to me, so I asked Michel Odent. He has been practicing for a long time and is a physiology “king.” He told me that this hurry-up began once artificial oxytocin became routine after birth. So, in fact, it is the Pitocin that closes the cervix, not nature. Once again the lesson is: “Don’t fool with Mother Nature!”
Jan Tritten
Midwifery Today
The Bridge of Life: Options for Placentas - by Kelly Graff
Cheryl and two of her babies.