The placenta (baby place) is a unique organ that has existed for less than nine months. The fact is that it is formed only by 12 days of embryo development. Such a quantity of nutrients passes through the placenta during the prenatal period, which is enough to form a new life.
Of course, the child's place performs a great many functions that are very important for the development of the child and for the body of the mother herself. Our task is to describe the most important and dwell on such a threatening pathology as premature placenta aging .
The initial function of this organ is the role of the connecting link between the mother and child. The placenta carries out the transportation of all useful substances (amino acids, proteins, fatty acids, fats, carbohydrates), oxygen, vitamins and trace elements. The mother also receives some useful items to replenish her supplies. So, through the placenta, hormones are delivered to the woman that stimulate the normal course of pregnancy.
In addition to transporting oxygen, it also performs the opposite function - it removes carbon dioxide and metabolic products from the baby’s body. However, the placenta also acts as a barrier to toxins and harmful substances. They cannot easily penetrate a child’s place. Barrier function also stimulates the protection of the mother's body from fetal antigens.
The aging of the placenta, that is, its regular development, occurs gradually. After all, it, having formed on the twelfth day, changes along with the development of the fetus: it develops, changes its structural features, grows with the baby. According to this, four degrees of placental maturity are distinguished, the presence of which can be determined by ultrasound. Each of them should correspond to a certain period of pregnancy.
However, premature aging of the placenta sometimes occurs , which is characterized by its rapid development, which does not correspond to the period of gestation. For example, sometimes the second degree of its maturation begins earlier than the 32nd week, and the third - before the 36th.
As you know, there are a number of reasons that stimulate the development of such a pathology:
- if a woman has had abortions in the past;
- complications during past birth;
- aging of the placenta can develop in the presence of diseases of the endocrine system (for example, with diabetes mellitus);
- chronic pathologies in the work and development of the cardiovascular system;
- liver diseases (hepatitis and others);
- diseases of the genitourinary system, chronic inflammation.
Often, premature aging of the placenta can occur in the presence of intrauterine infection, Rh conflict (when the mother and child have different Rh factors), HIV infection, epilepsy, and also those women who lead an unhealthy lifestyle: drink, smoke, use drugs .
An old placenta can lead to:
- the fact that the woman does not bear the child or does not inform him before the due date;
- premature discharge of amniotic fluid;
- fetal malnutrition;
- premature detachment of the placenta.
However, do not panic if you have been diagnosed with premature placental aging. The treatment for this problem has been developed very effective, and doctors have several possible options, the choice of which depends on the specific situation. A woman with such a pathology should regularly visit a gynecologist and carefully follow the doctor's recommendations. Sometimes it becomes necessary to go to hospital to maintain pregnancy. Before giving birth, a woman with such a pathology is hospitalized ahead of schedule. Subject to all recommendations, a woman carries a baby and gives birth to a healthy baby.