The term placenta is used in the field of medicine to describe an organ which is responsible for serving as a link between the fetus and the mother throughout the gestation cycle. This structure is found in most mammals serving as the organ that is responsible for supplying the main requirements of the fetus, while it is in the womb, some of these requirements are the exchange of nutrient, respiration and excretion. It has a discoidal shape with an average size of 20 centimeters in diameter and its weight can exceed 400 grams. On the other hand, the placenta has two surfaces, one maternal and the other fetal; The latter is smooth and is lined by amnion, while the maternal one has lobes where the bifurcations of the umbilical vessels are located, it also has cotyledons.
The placenta is formed from the same cells that originate in the ovum and the sperm, which gave way to the formation of the fetus and, as mentioned above, has two surfaces, whose main function is to keep blood levels balanced. that correspond to both the fetus and the mother.
In the case of human beings, the placenta is formed from the second week after fertilization and as the weeks progress, it will acquire its final discoidal shape, which is usually during the third month of gestation, without However, the placenta may present small changes during the rest of the process until delivery. The fetus on the other hand is linked to the placenta thanks to the umbilical cordThis is responsible for the transfer of deoxygenated blood from the fetus to the placenta and then to the mother and then the blood is sent with the nutrients and oxygen to the fetus. It is important to point out that this blood exchange is very rigorous and selective, since only certain substances can pass through and they do not combine with the blood of either the fetus or the mother.
