"Secundinas" (From Latin secundinae, -arum). Med. Placenta and membranes that wrap the fetus.
Coincidentally I find this term and I see that the Dictionary of the Royal Academy picks it up in the way I quote above. Seconds that feed and wrap the fetus They have to leave the mother's body at any given time. After the baby, how not.
It is clear that the most important work we have already done. The baby is already with us after the expulsion, but there is still something else to leave. That of what has been feeding for nine months, the placenta and what has been wrapping it next to the uterus.
The expulsion of secundins or "childbirth of the placenta" occurs between five and 30 minutes after birth of the baby. Some women say that in their birth they were surprised when the gynecologist or midwife asked them to push a little more. It's not like two babies come, no. It is the stage of birth.
Thanks to weaker contractions than those that occur during the previous stages of labor, the uterus pushes the placenta out. This organ reduces its size and detaches itself from the walls of the uterus for expulsion through the canal of the vagina, where the baby has just passed. Next to the placenta you leave the remains of membrane and umbilical cord.
To favor these contractions The baby is put to the mother's chest, as suction stimulates uterine contractions. Professionals can also choose to massage the mother's womb or administer oxytocin if it was already being put before the mother.
There is some controversy about whether professionals should help the placenta to leave or leave it alone, although in recent years specialists recommend the active management of placental delivery as an initial method, since it reduces the risk of postpartum hemorrhage, shortens the duration of the third stage and decreases the need to use oxytocin therapeutically.
The midwife examines the placenta to see that it is complete and there is no rest left in the uterus, which could lead to postpartum complications (such as puerperal infection).
Only in the rare case that the secundinas did not occur spontaneously or with the aids that we mentioned within an hour after birth, would the emergency gynecologist have to intervene in a more dangerous process for the mother. If you have epidural anesthesia it can be done in the delivery room, if not, you will have to move to the operating room with general anesthesia to detach the placenta manually.
But the most common is that we barely find out, after the emotion of truly important childbirth, of this other secondary moment (although necessary) the secundinas appear in the stage of birth, the "delivery" of the placenta and membranes.
