Introduction

• The vet is most likely to be required to examine a placenta following an abortion, stillbirth or during a post-cesarean check.  
• This article describes how to examine a placenta.

Passing the placenta - normal physiology

Examination of placenta

Mistakes to avoid

What can the condition of the placenta tell you?

Non-Infectious causes of abortion/stillbirth may result in a placenta with the following appearance

Infectious causes of abortion/stillbirth may result in a placenta with the following appearance

Laboratory examination of placenta

Further Reading

Publications

Refereed Papers

• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
• Schlafer D H (2002) Bovine placental development, anatomy and pathology: before and after birth. Cattle Practice 10 (2) PubMed.
• Johnson C T, Lupson G R & Lawrence K E (1994) The bovine placentome in bacterial and mycotic abortions. Vet Rec 134 (11) PubMed.

Other sources of information

• Waine K, Busin V & Strugnell B (2019) Getting the Most out of On-Farm Post-Mortems: A Guide for Veterinary Surgeons. AHDB, UK. Website: https://ahdb.org.uk.
• Blowey R (1999) The Veterinary Book for Dairy Farmers. 3rd edn. Old Pond Publishing, UK.  pp 118-119.