The placenta is a vital organ ensures that your unborn child receives sufficient nutrients, oxygen and antibodies to fight infections; it also acts to transfer your babies waste back through the placenta into your blood stream and produces a range of hormones that are important during pregnancy.
Following the birth of your child, the placenta needs to be delivered. This is commonly known as the third stage of labour and usually occurs within 30 minutes of delivering your child. If the placenta cannot be delivered within this timeframe then it may have to be surgically removed. According to the Midwifes Rules and Standards (NMC 2004) it is the responsibility of the midwife to provide the care required to ensure that the placenta and membranes are delivered and to identify whether the membranes are complete, incomplete or ragged. A failure to appropriately identify and specify the status of the placenta could amount to a breach of duty and has the prospects of a successful claim for damages.