placenta
n. countablen. a special organ that grows inside a mother's body during pregnancy. It provides the baby with food and oxygen and takes away waste through the umbilical cord.
n. a temporary vascular organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy, facilitating nutrient and gas exchange between the maternal and fetal circulatory systems. In botany, refers to the part of the ovary wall to which the ovules are attached.
The placenta provides the growing baby with oxygen and nutrients.
After the baby is born, the mother's body naturally expels the placenta during the final stage of labor.
The placenta acts as a highly selective biological barrier, allowing essential antibodies to pass to the fetus while filtering out many potentially harmful pathogens and toxins.
Elision for phrases such as New Latin placenta uterī (“womb cake”), placenta uterina (“uterine cake”), from Latin placenta (“flat cake”), because of the flat round shape of the afterbirth. Doublet of palacsinta and palatschinke.
In medical contexts, often referred to as the 'afterbirth' once it has been expelled from the body.