Comentário sobre Nidá 3:4
הַמַּפֶּלֶת סַנְדָּל אוֹ שִׁלְיָא, תֵּשֵׁב לְזָכָר וְלִנְקֵבָה. שִׁלְיָא בַּבַּיִת, הַבַּיִת טָמֵא. לֹא שֶׁהַשִּׁלְיָא וָלָד, אֶלָּא שֶׁאֵין שִׁלְיָא בְלֹא וָלָד. רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, נִמּוֹק הַוָּלָד עַד שֶׁלֹּא יָצָא:
Se ela abortar uma sandália [isto é, um pedaço de carne sem rosto, semelhante em forma a uma sandália] ou uma placenta, ela deve ficar sentada [pelo número de dias de impureza e pureza exigidas para quem dá à luz] um homem e uma mulher. para quem dá à luz uma mulher. Se uma placenta está em uma casa, a casa é impura [a partir da imprudência de um cadáver]; não porque uma placenta é um feto, mas porque não pode haver placenta sem um feto. O rabino Shimon diz: o feto [que estava na placenta] dissolveu-se [no sangue e foi anulado] antes de sair [e, portanto, a casa não é impura].
Bartenura on Mishnah Niddah
English Explanation of Mishnah Niddah
If a placenta is in a house, the house is unclean, not because a placenta is a fetus but because generally there can be no placenta without a fetus.
Rabbi Shimon says: the child might have been mashed before it came out.
Section one: A "sandal" is a fetus whose face has not yet been formed. This counts as a human miscarriage and if the sex cannot be determined, then she must observe the impurity rituals for having both a male and a female (see mishnah two).
While a placenta is not a fetus, it is a sign that there was a fetus. Therefore, since we can't determine the sex of the fetus, she must act as if she had both a boy and a girl.
Section two: If a placenta is found in a house, we can assume that a dead fetus was in the house as well. This makes the house into an "ohel" (a tent) which conveys impurity to all of the contents of the house. (We learned plenty about this in Tractate Ohalot).
Rabbi Shimon notes that the presence of a placenta is not a certain sign that she gave birth to a fetus. It is possible that the fetus could have been dissolved or mashed up (I realize that this is not pleasant) before it came out of the woman. In such a case, the fetus does not have the status of a dead body and doesn't defile as does a dead body. The house and its contents will remain pure.