How is the placenta delivered?

If you deliver your baby through your vagina, you'll also deliver the placenta that way shortly afterward. This is known as the third stage of labor.

After you give birth, you keep having mild contractions. Your healthcare professional might give you a shot of medicine called oxytocin (Pitocin). This helps you keep having contractions. It also lessens bleeding after you deliver your baby. Your healthcare professional also might massage your lower abdomen. This encourages the uterus to contract and release the placenta through the vagina. You might be asked to push to deliver the placenta.

If you have a C-section, your healthcare professional removes the placenta from your uterus during that procedure.

After it's delivered, your health care professional checks the placenta to make sure it's intact. Any pieces left behind need to be removed from the uterus to prevent bleeding and infection. If you're interested, ask to see the placenta. In some cultures, families bury the placenta in a special place.

If you have questions about the placenta during pregnancy, talk with a member of your healthcare team. Your healthcare professional can help you better understand the placenta's role in pregnancy.