# Umbilical cord -- the mommy end **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 25, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583 "2004-11-25T01:54:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/1 "2004-11-25T01:54:46Z")
Okay, as I have no brothers or sisters and have only witnessed births on shows like _ER_ where the mom is presented with an 8-month-old slathered in Vaseline… So the umbilical cord is cut at the baby end, and tied off or clamped so baby doesn’t bleed to death, right? What happens with the mommy end? Is everything purged along with the afterbirth? How strong is its “connection” to the uterine wall (or whatever)? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/2 "2004-11-25T02:00:50Z")
The umbilical cord is attached to the placenta, which is the afterbirth that gets expelled. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/3 "2004-11-25T02:06:52Z")
The mommy end is attached to the roof of the placenta. Things are explained [here](http://education.yahoo.com/reference/gray/subjects/subject?id=12), in probably much more detail than you’d ever want. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/4 "2004-11-25T02:10:12Z")
Ah, perfect! Thanks, that’s exactly what I wanted to know. It was a dumb thought that just occured to me – I assumed it was part and parcel of the “afterbirth”, but since assumptions are so often wrong… I started wondering if it had to be clipped or anything. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/5 "2004-11-25T02:15:15Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > The mommy end is attached to the roof of the placenta. Things are explained [here](http://education.yahoo.com/reference/gray/subjects/subject?id=12), in probably much more detail than you’d ever want. Ah, it’s around Figure 38, that I needed to see. It was the separation of the placenta from the uterine wall that had me all confused – and that site actually give the perfect amount of details. Thanks! Strangely, I have seen animals give birth, but was so pre-occupied with the cute litte kitties, or cow-babies that I never paid attention before. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/6 "2004-11-25T02:27:13Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > Thanks! > > Strangely, I have seen animals give birth, but was so pre-occupied with the cute litte kitties, or cow-babies that I never paid attention before. Cats and cows (and other animals) have different types of placentas, but the umbillical cord still attaches to the placenta. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/7 "2004-11-25T02:40:33Z")
The placenta is normally expelled a few minutes after birth. The connections between the placenta and the mother, explodes, like thousands of little space dock clamps and the placenta is then free and easily expelled. Some very bad doctors get impatient and yank the cord pulling out the uterus. This often kills the mother. I have read too many descriptions given by nurses watching in horror as this happens. I instructed those will me to stop the doctor from trying that with force should my doctor go insane and try that. My doctor was patient and my placenta fairly quick so I had no problems. Sometimes it does need help, but not often. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/8 "2004-11-25T02:48:46Z")
> [@lee](#): > > Some very bad doctors get impatient and yank the cord pulling out the uterus. _faints_ ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/9 "2004-11-25T11:35:14Z")
> [@lee](#): > > The placenta is normally expelled a few minutes after birth. The connections between the placenta and the mother, explodes, like thousands of little space dock clamps and the placenta is then free and easily expelled. Not all the time. My son’s afterbirth came out nice and neat (size and shape of a basketball, from what I remember), but I had to have a D&C after my daughter was born because not all the placenta came out in one piece. ---
**Author:** ![Shrinking\_Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Shrinking\_Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shrinking_Violet)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/10 "2004-11-25T12:42:25Z")
From what I can recall, the mother is given some kind of injection immediately after the baby is born, to precipitate the delivery of the placenta. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/11 "2004-11-25T12:50:03Z")
> [@Shrinking Violet](#): > > From what I can recall, the mother is given some kind of injection immediately after the baby is born, to precipitate the delivery of the placenta. Yep. The injection promotes uterine contractions, which not only helps the placenta loosen but greatly reduces the risk of severe bleeding afterwards. Childbirth doesn’t stop being dangerous just because the kid is safely out… ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/12 "2004-11-25T12:56:25Z")
The injection is of oxytocin, a powerful hormone that promotes uterine contractions and helps prevent hemorrhages. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/13 "2004-11-25T12:56:55Z")
What would happen if the cord was not cut and the baby was left attached till the afterbirth came out? Would the baby have some other sort of extremety, or would it eventually come off by itself? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/14 "2004-11-25T15:50:00Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > What would happen if the cord was not cut and the baby was left attached till the afterbirth came out? Would the baby have some other sort of extremety, or would it eventually come off by itself? Apparently, this is standard procedure in some cultures. > **[What People Believe About Placentas](https://www.verywellfamily.com/the-amazing-placenta-2753078)** > > Many people revere the placenta as an amazing organ and have rituals surrounding it. Learn more about beliefs and practices. > [@](#): > > For example, in some cultures it is commonplace to leave the baby attached to the placenta, rather than clamp the cord, until the cord dries up and falls off. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/15 "2004-11-25T16:04:37Z")
> [@](#): > > For example, in some cultures it is commonplace to leave the baby attached to the placenta… _faints again_ ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/16 "2004-11-25T16:06:47Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > _faints again_ Oh, that’s nothing. Here’s the article that first brought me to the Straight Dope: [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3\_104.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_104.html) A snippet: > [@](#): > > I can report the following facts: (1) chowing down on placenta doesn’t happen often, but (2) it happens. May God have mercy on our heathen souls. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/17 "2004-11-25T16:26:37Z")
> [@lee](#): > > Some very bad doctors get impatient and yank the cord pulling out the uterus. This often kills the mother. I have read too many descriptions given by nurses watching in horror as this happens. I have never heard of this. If you’ve read “too many descriptions”, than you ought to be able to provide them as cites, right? I frankly doubt that this ever happens, at most it maght have happened one time, and if it did I’m willing to bet the doctor was censured for it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/18 "2004-11-25T16:56:01Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > I have never heard of this. If you’ve read “too many descriptions”, than you ought to be able to provide them as cites, right? I frankly doubt that this ever happens, at most it maght have happened one time, and if it did I’m willing to bet the doctor was censured for it. Ah, Weirddave, don’t bet something never happens. Rarely, occasionally or sometimes, perhaps, but everything weird you can possibly imagine happen to the human body has happened at least once. It very nearly happened to me, and the nurse stopped it in time. What happens is that a doctor will tug on the cord, the placenta doesn’t detach and instead the uterus flips inside out and comes out the cervix (still dilated from delivery.) The nurse got hysterical when my OB tried it, and so instead he reached up through my still open cervix and used his hand to scrape the placenta away from the uterine wall. (Thank OG he had little tiny Asian hands!) It did happen to my best friend, and she is unable to have any more children. (A hysterectomy was required, as the prolapse was too severe to correct.) I’m on my mom’s Mac right now, and I can’t figure out how to get another browser window up to look, but try googling “prolapsed uterus doctor error” and I bet you’ll find something. If not, I’ll look tomorrow when I’m back on a “real computer.” ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/19 "2004-11-25T17:10:54Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > I have never heard of this. If you’ve read “too many descriptions”, than you ought to be able to provide them as cites, right? I frankly doubt that this ever happens, at most it maght have happened one time, and if it did I’m willing to bet the doctor was censured for it. [This board](http://allnurses.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?daysprune=&forumid=35&x=13&y=12) is where I read more than one description of this behavior by doctors. [This page](http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/cache/-1207566321.htm) mentions how uterine inversion may be caused by “cord traction is used for delivery of the placenta without effective guarding of the uterus.” I doubt they would list a cause that never happens. Cord traction is not always a bad idea, but it is often unnecessary and a few impatient doctors sometimes just yank on the cord without following the proper guidelines. [This is one thread](http://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34721&highlight=yank+cord) that mentions it. There are other threads there that mention it. In the cases that I have read, the doctors generally were not censured for it. This is not the only place I have read of it. It is not common, of course. It does happen. ---
**Author:** ![holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/holmes)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583/20 "2004-11-25T17:19:00Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > I have never heard of this. If you’ve read “too many descriptions”, than you ought to be able to provide them as cites, right? I frankly doubt that this ever happens, at most it maght have happened one time, and if it did I’m willing to bet the doctor was censured for it. Another story:[link](http://www.childbirth.org/articles/stories/1999/99WHK.html) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/umbilical-cord-the-mommy-end/276583.md?page=2)