05/05/2026
In a typical, uncomplicated delivery, your body is designed to deliver the placenta on its own. This is called the third stage of labor, and for many, it happens naturally with time, patience, and sometimes gentle guidance.
What isn’t routine? Someone immediately reaching inside your body to remove it.
Manual removal of the placenta is a medical procedure. It has a place but that place is when there’s a clear reason. Situations like a retained placenta, heavy bleeding, or other complications can make it necessary, and in those moments, it can be lifesaving.
But outside of those situations, it shouldn’t be treated like a default step.
You deserve:
• To know what’s happening to your body
• To be told why an intervention is being suggested
• To give consent whenever the situation allows
• To have your care handled with patience not urgency that isn’t medically necessary
Birth isn’t something that needs to be rushed at every stage. The placenta doesn’t need to be forced out on a timeline just for convenience.
Advocating for yourself doesn’t mean refusing care it means understanding the difference between what’s necessary and what’s routine.
Because informed consent isn’t optional. 🤍
