PLACENTA
PLACENTA: STRUCTURE: Placenta is a structure that establishes firm connection between the foetus and the mother. From the outer surface of the chorion a number of finger like projections known as chorionic villi grow into the tissue of the uterus. These villi penetrate the tissue of the uterine wall of the mother and form placenta. The placenta is a connection between foetal membrane and the inner uterine wall. Thus, placenta is partly maternal and partly embryonic. By means of placenta the developing embryo obtains nutrients and oxygen from the mother and gives off carbon dioxide and nitrogenous waste. In the placenta, the foetal blood comes very close to the maternal blood, and this permits the exchange of materials between the two. Food (glucose, amino acids, lipids), water, mineral salts, vitamins, hormones, antibodies and oxygen pass from the maternal blood into the foetal blood, and foetal metabolic wastes, such as carbon dioxide, urea and warn pass into the