The third stage of labour is birthing your placenta. It’s important to remember to keep the mood of the room the same as it was when your baby was born. It is also important to make sure there is no retained placenta. So when your midwife prepares to examine your placenta she may ask if you would like to see it. What do you think you will say or in the case where you’ve already given birth, what did you say? I said yes both times (I remember the first time Marcus was horrified but it’s such an amazing thing why wouldn’t I. I asked the question, is it all intact?
In some cases, fragments of the placenta are not expelled from your uterus. When this happens, they can disrupt the postpartum contractions. These contractions serve to shrink down the uterus and close off the blood vessels inside; when they don’t occur as they should, the blood vessels at the placenta attachment site continue to bleed. If undetected or not treated, this can lead to excessive blood loss (hemorrhage), or infection. (Hence why that placenta inspection is so critical!) So ASK the question? Is my placenta intact?
When birthing your baby you need oxytocin, likewise with the placenta, oxytocin is key. Oxytocin allows the muscles of the uterus to work as they are designed to. You usually have about an hour after birth to birth your placenta if all is well. Here are some tips if you don’t want the synthetic oxytocin (Pitocin) as first choice. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
❣️ Gravity. Sit on a bed pan over the toilet rather than sitting on the bed if the hour is close to passing.
❣️ The uterus can also be stimulated to contract by performing fundal massage.
❣️After your baby is born you will enjoy some skin to skin. If you decide to breastfeed this will help stimulate oxytocin release in your body. .
