How does the body create it? How is it structured? How does it keep the baby alive? How does it attach/detach from the uterus?
In: 2
The placenta is a sort of filter that allows nutrients to pass from the mother’s bloodstream into the baby’s bloodstream.
The placenta forms from the fetus while it’s still barely more than a clump of differentiated cells. The [blastocyst](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blastocyst) implants into the uterine lining and a few of the cells in the fetus start developing into the placenta.
The placenta is mostly just a network of connected blood vessels that burrow into the uterus, seeking blood vessels from the mother’s body. The uterus forms a membrane that surrounds the ends of the blood vessels from the placenta, which fills with fluid mixed with blood from the mother. Oxygen and nutrients dissolves out of the blood from the mother and dissolves into the blood from the fetus. This way, there is no direction connection between mom and the growing baby.
The umbilical cord carries the fetus’s blood back from the placenta, full of oxygen and food and everything else it needs to grow. The placenta also carries waste from the growing fetus and dissolves it into the mother’s blood for her to expel.
A direction connection is dangerous to both the baby and mom, but mostly it protects mom. Evolutionarily speaking, it’s in the baby’s best interest to take as many resources from the mother as possible without killing her. The baby’s genes will only be passed on if it survives, and the bigger and healthier it is at birth, the better its chances of survival to adulthood. It gets just that one chance to live. The mother, on the other hand, can pass on her genes through as many babies as she can have. So although it’s in her interest to give the baby *enough*, it’s also in her interest to be able to withhold resources if food is scarce, or even to be able to spontaneously abort.
The uterine lining prevents the baby from directly connecting to the mother’s blood and acts as a filter for her. The baby can send hormone signals across the barrier to, say, increase the mother’s blood sugar, which would mean more food for the fetus (and less food for mom, or diabetes for mom). Some signaling is good, because the baby *does* need food and whatnot, which is fine. The uterus helps filter that and control that, limiting just how much the fetus can do, and preventing any problems from affecting the mother.
The placenta acts as a filter for the baby. The fetus is very vulnerable to any number of diseases. A direct blood connection would carry any viruses or bacteria. It also carries the mother’s immune system, which won’t recognize the baby’s cells and would attack.
How does the body create it? How is it structured? How does it keep the baby alive? How does it attach/detach from the uterus?
In: 2
The placenta is a sort of filter that allows nutrients to pass from the mother’s bloodstream into the baby’s bloodstream.
The placenta forms from the fetus while it’s still barely more than a clump of differentiated cells. The [blastocyst](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blastocyst) implants into the uterine lining and a few of the cells in the fetus start developing into the placenta.
The placenta is mostly just a network of connected blood vessels that burrow into the uterus, seeking blood vessels from the mother’s body. The uterus forms a membrane that surrounds the ends of the blood vessels from the placenta, which fills with fluid mixed with blood from the mother. Oxygen and nutrients dissolves out of the blood from the mother and dissolves into the blood from the fetus. This way, there is no direction connection between mom and the growing baby.
The umbilical cord carries the fetus’s blood back from the placenta, full of oxygen and food and everything else it needs to grow. The placenta also carries waste from the growing fetus and dissolves it into the mother’s blood for her to expel.
A direction connection is dangerous to both the baby and mom, but mostly it protects mom. Evolutionarily speaking, it’s in the baby’s best interest to take as many resources from the mother as possible without killing her. The baby’s genes will only be passed on if it survives, and the bigger and healthier it is at birth, the better its chances of survival to adulthood. It gets just that one chance to live. The mother, on the other hand, can pass on her genes through as many babies as she can have. So although it’s in her interest to give the baby *enough*, it’s also in her interest to be able to withhold resources if food is scarce, or even to be able to spontaneously abort.
The uterine lining prevents the baby from directly connecting to the mother’s blood and acts as a filter for her. The baby can send hormone signals across the barrier to, say, increase the mother’s blood sugar, which would mean more food for the fetus (and less food for mom, or diabetes for mom). Some signaling is good, because the baby *does* need food and whatnot, which is fine. The uterus helps filter that and control that, limiting just how much the fetus can do, and preventing any problems from affecting the mother.
The placenta acts as a filter for the baby. The fetus is very vulnerable to any number of diseases. A direct blood connection would carry any viruses or bacteria. It also carries the mother’s immune system, which won’t recognize the baby’s cells and would attack.
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