Delivering the placenta

Delivering the placenta is often the last thing on your mind as you're more interested in looking at your brand-new baby, but it's an important time

What happens?

This stage begins as your baby is born. As he emerges, the top of your uterus (womb) pushes down, and the placenta comes away from the wall of your uterus. If, like many women, you’ve had an injection of Syntometrine, your uterus will contract fairly quickly.

Your baby’s cord is clamped immediately after birth, making the blood in the cord flow back into the placenta and create a clot. Once the placenta has separated from the uterus wall, the midwife can gently pull on the cord and deliver it, usually five or 10 minutes after birth.

What’s the alternative?

If you opt for a physiological third stage (with no injection of Syntometrine), the cord is clamped after the blood has stopped flowing through it, and your body experiences more contractions to deliver the placenta.

With a few good pushes, this takes between 20 minutes and an hour. There is often more blood loss if you opt for a physiological third stage.