In a celebration of birthing, motherhood and the miracle of human life, a team of 20 dedicated women in regional Victoria has been working together to knit a giant placenta.

The local opportunity shop provided 900 stained or damaged t-shirts for the community arts installation.

The t-shirts from the Mawarra Disability Services Op-Shop were then washed and dyed in a spectrum of crimson, pink and purple, and cut and sewn into tubular strips to create the yarn needed to create the artwork.

The knitters worked for two and a half years on sections of the placenta which were eventually joined together to create the 0.7 deep, three-metre wide soft installation, mounted on a steel supportive structure.

Warragul-based community artist Bec Vandyk said the project is a commentary on the silent, often hidden work of women who nurture, feed and sustain human life.

"Often I make artwork that is about motherhood or being female," Ms Vandyk said.

"I definitely have a fascination for things that women do that are hidden.

"Of all of the things that we do that are hidden, this is probably an incredible one."

More than 20 women have worked to knit sections of the giant placenta, creating a 150-kilogram installation that measures three metres in height. ( Supplied: Lisa Brooker )

Giant artwork weighs 150 kilograms

The placenta is an essential organ created for the foetus during pregnancy to provide nutrients and oxygen to a developing baby.

It is a tremendously complex curiosity of nature as it filters the correct amount of nutrients and oxygen to a baby in the making, without ever mixing the mother's and baby's blood.

"I think for the majority of people who lose a pregnancy it will be because the placenta hasn't been able to implant properly, or hasn't developed properly, so it's a really important part of any human pregnancy, or any mammal's pregnancy," Ms Vandyk said.

The giant placenta has taken two years to knit and community artist Bec Vandyk hopes it represents the hidden aspects of motherhood and being a woman. ( Supplied: Bec Vandyk )

Historically, the placenta has been discarded with other after birth matter as hazardous waste.

But in recent years the true therapeutic value of the placenta has been re-examined.

The umbilical cord was once immediately severed after birth, but it is now believed that the baby benefits from redrawing a final dose of nutrient-rich blood through the cord which pulsates for up to three minutes after birth.

As the placenta is cast with the DNA of the baby, it is now also believed that the organ — which is as rich in stem cells as cord blood — may hold some therapeutic use for a baby born with health issues.

Australian research by the Hudson Institute of Medical Research has identified that placental cells may assist the lung function of prematurely born babies.

"Most of all I'd like for people to see something that happened that was because of a woman, that it happened in a secret place, hidden, but was actually extremely valuable and in fact essential for our ongoing life," Ms Vandyk said.

The placenta installation is open to the public at Factory One, Alfred St in Warragul throughout May.