This is what a placenta really looks like
They're beautiful and each one is different, says placenta-loving photographer (warning: not for the squeamish)
Placentas. They don't get much of a good press, do they? When your baby is still in the womb, their placenta is their whole world, giving them nutrients and oxygen and basically keeping them alive. Yet most of us never really see the placenta after the birth, as midwives tend to whisk it away – and, anyway, we're usually a bit distracted by this tiny little human being in our arms.
But one birth photographer – who always makes sure she gets a shot of the placenta at every birth she attends – has shared a series of afterbirth pictures to show us just how amazing – and beautiful – she thinks placenta really is.
"Placentas are beautiful, unique and exist in all shapes and sizes,” Marry Fermont, the Dutch photographer behind Fermont Fotografie, told the Huffington Post.
"No placenta = no baby, so it’s about time we give the placenta some more attention."
Marry says the first time she saw a placenta was when she was training to be a midwife. "It was in my first year," she says, "and we came into class at 8am and on several desks there was a 'fresh' placenta from that night.
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"I was so excited. It was the first 'real' thing I saw that had anything to do with birth.
"I found it so fascinating that this was the home of a baby for 9 months, and that without this organ, there would be no baby.
"This is also the reason why I think it’s important to have a photo. The baby and the placenta are inseparable, and it feels weird not to photograph something so important."
Take a look at the photos below and try not to be fascinated…
Photos: Marry Fermont / Fermont Fotografie
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