Jun 4

Posted by My OB said WHAT?!?.

“Now We Have To Wait For The Disgusting Placenta.”

“Now we have to wait for the disgusting placenta.” -OB to mother immediately after the birth of the baby.

130 people dislike these words.

There are 35 comments to this post.

Lauren had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 4:19 pm (Quote)

That “disgusting placenta” kept that baby alive & nourished for the past 9 months buddy. You should be worshiping it and saving it to show the mama just how amazing that organ is. “Disgusting placenta”…come on!

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Sarah Dorrance-Minch had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 4:22 pm (Quote)

What a… disgusting… comment.

I rather liked my placenta when it came out. The one side looked like a bunch of large garnets clumped together in a sort of glistening, wet geode; the other side looked like a liver or other generic animal organ that had been painted with a particularly beautiful tree image. Nothing disgusting about that.

OTOH, I freely admit that the most disappointing part about having had my first baby by c-section was that, because it had to be done under general anaesthesia, I couldn’t get a look at my organs while they were stitching my various pieces and parts back up. I mean, how many times will I get to see my own guts? It was a once in a lifetime opportunity (I hope), and now I’ll never get to see my guts that way. What a pity.

Why would anybody who found body parts and/or organs disgusting want to be a surgeon, anyway? I don’t get it.

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Lisas Reply:
June 4th, 2010 at 5:07 pm Lisas(Quote)

Heh, I donated part of my liver to my mom and I had the surgeon take pictures of it while he was in there. I really wanted video, but he said no…

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Serene Reply:
November 1st, 2010 at 8:18 am Serene(Quote)

HA! You’re just like me!

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Jane had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 4:23 pm (Quote)

Hey, Doc? Is “disgusting” a medical term? You know, the way we’ve heard about anterior placentas and low-lying placentas, there are also disgusting placentas?

*eyeroll*

BTW, I’ve already said on here that I thought the placenta felt disgusting when my body ejected it. But I’m not a medical professional and I wouldn’t refer to anyone else’s placenta the same way. Did the OB think she’d push it out faster if s/he repulsed her?

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Jessica had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 4:30 pm (Quote)

Well, you’re welcome to get the #&%$ out of my room so you won’t have to see it!

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Sheva Reply:
June 5th, 2010 at 9:02 pm Sheva(Quote)

I agree! Perfect response!

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JulietsButterfly had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 5:08 pm (Quote)

Who is this dr? My husband doesn’t like the placenta and would call it disgusting, but he’s a very squeamish guy and would say that about anything slimy. I put this OB right up there with the ones who don’t like children. What did you think you were getting into when you went to med school?

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Dou-la-la had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 5:20 pm (Quote)

What was s/he, FIVE YEARS OLD?

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Mindie had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 5:20 pm (Quote)

Hmmm, I have a print of my last son’s placenta on the inside surface of my belly cast and it is kinda cool. I home birthed him and said placenta is still hanging out in my freezer until we plant it.
I really don’t get why it would be viewed as disgusting though.

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Heather P had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 5:21 pm (Quote)

Its an organ. Its not anymore disgusting than any other organ. I wonder if he/she gives play by plays of c-sections too. “Now I’m cutting into your uterus. This is really gross and there’s a lot of goo”

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Safiyah Reply:
June 5th, 2010 at 2:20 pm Safiyah(Quote)

I know right?? LOLLLL

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Heather had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 5:35 pm (Quote)

I think the placenta is beautiful and amazing. I do placenta encapsulation and always take a moment to admire the truley awesome thing it had been doing for the past 9 months

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Cmat had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 6:49 pm (Quote)

Is that the technical term doc?

You go right ahead and think its disgusting, but keep it to yourself mmkay?

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Maria had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 6:53 pm (Quote)

Huh, last time I checked, plaentas were pretty friggin miraculous and amazing. I’m still pissed that I was too into the new babes to ask to see them in my hospital births!

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Safiyah Reply:
June 5th, 2010 at 9:15 pm Safiyah(Quote)

With baby #4, (3 weeks old!) I did remember to ask to see it, and that was the only time I remembered to as well. (My husband was aghast at this request, but I agree they are friggin amazing!)

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Tamara Morales had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 9:12 pm (Quote)

I cherished my placenta after the birth of my second daughter and allowed it to continue its work by nourishing me during my postpartum period by making it into placenta capsules. Now I help other women benefit from their amazing placentas!

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SarahB had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 9:53 pm (Quote)

If you think it is disgusting you are probably in the wrong business doc! My placenta was very calcified

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SarahB had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 9:55 pm (Quote)

Sorry, I submitted it on accident there.

I was saying that my placenta was very calcified and clotty when my son was born at 31 weeks, it was failing and it was a good thing my water broke and he was born when he was but my doctor did not call my placenta disgusting. He thought it was pretty interesting though.

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Nicole had this to say, Jun 4, 2010 @ 11:24 pm (Quote)

I also think that placentae are beautiful and amazing organs, but I am sure a lot of women think they are disgusting. That being said, it was very unprofessional of the doctor to say something like that and dishonours the amazing organ.

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K had this to say, Jun 5, 2010 @ 8:21 am (Quote)

I’m a midwife, every time I deliver the placenta and inspect it I make sure to admire it out loud to the mom! “Look at this placenta you made, I can see that you ate well and took good care of yourself and your baby. This fed and breathed for your baby for NINE MONTHS! Good job!” A lot of the time they’ll then want to see it and I do a little show-and-tell style education.

Gross placenta… please.

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alice had this to say, Jun 5, 2010 @ 9:23 am (Quote)

…That makes me think of one of those doctors who have on the gloves, over other gloves, over a gown over pants and booties, with a mask and shield… all to catch a baby via normal birth. ‘Careful you might get some on you’

VS. my Midwife who was squatting over me in some sort of yoga pose (so I could birth how I was comfortable) wearing jeans, a t-shirt, sneakers and a simple pair of gloves…

My friend ended up with a transfer and her midwife actually laughed at the doctor when he came in like that, said something like ‘oh! well look at you all dressed up’

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Sheva Reply:
June 5th, 2010 at 9:06 pm Sheva(Quote)

The eye shields crack me up. I mean, I hear where they’re coming from, and I understand the need – if you make a mom lay in the dead beetle (did I get that right?) position, you’re setting yourself up for a faceful. Leave her to birth comfortably, and all you’ll need is a pair of gloves, if that – there’s always the option of letting mom catch her baby, or letting baby slide onto the bed. *gasp* I know, right?? Chickens.

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Sheva Reply:
June 5th, 2010 at 9:07 pm Sheva(Quote)

Just read that over – to clarify, ‘chickens’ was directed at the caregivers who are scared to step back and let mom birth her baby on her own power.

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Kayla had this to say, Jun 5, 2010 @ 10:26 am (Quote)

I thought the placenta was amazing! I asked my ob to see it after I delivered my baby. He came by my side with the placenta, amniotic sac, and umbilical cord in a bucket and explained it all. It was so fascinating.

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Sheva had this to say, Jun 5, 2010 @ 9:11 pm (Quote)

Placentas are beautiful, their shape, their purpose, their simplicity and complexity at the same time…
And how unprofessional! And rude! Presumably doc has seen placentas before. If he still can’t stomach it he is in the wrong department. A desk job, maybe?
BTW, being rude to a patient is officially not illegal, but it is unethical. I love learning new stuff!

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CCindy had this to say, Jun 7, 2010 @ 5:47 am (Quote)

I have 2 Points to make on this one.
1) Doctor – IMMEDIATELY after the birth of the baby ALL comments need to be positive comments about the baby, the mother, the father, Attention must be on the baby. Anything else is unacceptable!
2) Disgusting is not the proper word, but Ladies -Did you notice he said WAIT? I can’t believe 20 people posted and nobody noticed the WAIT! That means no cord traction. Yeah!!!!!

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ElElRi had this to say, Jun 7, 2010 @ 7:43 am (Quote)

He might have said the word “wait” and still been pulling on the cord.. You still have to “wait” for it to come out unless you reach your hand up inside and manually remove it.

I wish she would’ve said “Oh, I fully intended to cook and consume my placenta later so please put it in a medical bag in the fridge directly after inspection”.. I wonder if he’d have fainted.

I know several women who cook and eat or dry and consume their placentas.

Disgusting, no way.. It’s a placenta, it is amazing and we are actually biologically supposed to eat it unless it is ill.

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Sarah Dorrance-Minch Reply:
June 7th, 2010 at 3:59 pm Sarah Dorrance-Minch(Quote)

Me! Me! Planning on doing that this time around. (I was turned off by Kassandra’s placenta for some reason – it smelled oddish – but then, I spent the first eight months of that pregnancy living downwind of a place where coal was refined into coke, and I think what was grossing me out were the toxins I’d absorbed while living there).

Since placenta is supposed to be very similar in taste to liver, except maybe a little sweeter, I was thinking of sauteeing it in butter, garlic, basil, and oregano, and serving it up with fava beans.

Red wine gives me migraines, though, so no Chianti. Maybe a glass of Tokay.

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Paper Raisins had this to say, Jun 7, 2010 @ 8:07 am (Quote)

try seriously amazing… that an organ inside your body can produce another organ for the purpose of nourising another human being… simply amazing…not disgusting…

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LauraF had this to say, Jun 7, 2010 @ 1:44 pm (Quote)

Disclaimer: I have a ton of respect for the placenta as an Encapsulation Specialist and having consumed my own.

Perhaps it was sort of like an ice-breaker–under the assumption that the parents would find it disgusting (as many or most people do), maybe the OB thought that it would make it less creepy and that they would feel okay about thinking it was disgusting??? I mean, all possibilities exist…right?

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Rebecca had this to say, Jun 8, 2010 @ 11:23 am (Quote)

I thought mine was awesome and wish that I had had the forethought to ask to take it home with me. My L&D nurse, a sweet older lady named Ruby, showed it to me and pointed out all the parts. She made sure to say that not only was it one of the biggest placentae she’d ever seen but that it looked perfect and had one of the most beautiful “trees” she’d ever seen. I love her and wrote her a stellar letter after leaving the hospital.

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April had this to say, Jun 9, 2010 @ 2:33 pm (Quote)

I’m so glad my midwife excitedly declared looked perfect and healthy, just as expected, and then held it up and asked if I wanted to see (I did!).

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Eilidh's momma had this to say, Jun 11, 2010 @ 5:07 pm (Quote)

When I attended the birth of a friend’s son, the doctor took the time to show me the placenta. He showed me all the different parts and explained why it was discolored (meconium stained). How fabulous an organ!

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