We present a mathematical model for maternal blood flow in a placental circulatory unit (a
placentone), describing flow of maternal blood via Darcy's law and steady advective
transport of a dissolved nutrient. The method of images and computational integration along
streamlines are employed to find flow and solute concentration distributions, which are
illustrated for a range of governing system parameters. The model shows how the calibre of
the basal vessels can be a dominant determinant of the maternal blood flow rate through the …