Yes , you read that right .
Warning : Graphic images of placenta ahead .
When I was pregnant , the placenta — or rather , what to do with it post - birth — was a popular subject among my friends who already had babies or were expecting infant . Some had their placentas encapsulated . Most left them at the infirmary . I was on the fence about mine : to eat or not to eat ?
( For a good laugh , Google placenta recipes . They do exist ! … for everything from placenta sweet talker to placenta fret . A author from The Guardian evenmade placenta tacoswith his married woman ’s afterbirth . )
I ’m not a in particular crunchy person , and the benefits of placenta encapsulation are anecdotal at best . But I ’d read somewhere that inhume a placenta was a common rite in many cultures around the world , and that pique my interest enough to look into the practice .
Turns out , the native Hawaiians do it . The Navajo Indians do it . The Indonesians , Cambodians , Costa Ricans , and Bolivians do it . The Maorido it , consider it reinforce the shaver ’s bond with the land . ( In fact , the Maori Word of God for placenta , whenua , also mean demesne . )
Though they all have their own limited rituals involving sepulture of the “ tree of life , ” as the placenta is often called , the common thread among many of them was the human action of linking past , present , and future — returning the remains to Mother Earth to rear another sprightliness or protect the present life .
Clearly not everyone ’s cup of tea , but a paying attention custom nonetheless to honor a birth as well as to enrich the earth .
When I pitched the idea to my husband , he thought I was jest at first , then he felt a little ( or a muckle ) squeamish when he substantiate I was n’t . The placenta nourished our child for nine months , I volunteer in defending team , why could n’t it retain to nourish another manakin of life ?
After all , it was n’t any different thanplanting fish headsin our raised beds , and my family was known for burying all variety of kitchen remnants in their garden when I was growing up : shrimp shells , fish bones , Pisces guts .
This was fundamentally free fertilizer . With my placenta , I would have it off exactly where it came from — it was organic plant food at its purest . The idea of plant a placenta seemed improper , but it certainly was n’t outlandish .
The hospital allow us to take the placenta home after Igave birth . I merely ratify a release stating I knew the endangerment of cover a biological agent , and the placenta was wrapped up and refrigerated during my hospital stoppage .
I call back it would be vacuum - sealed or wrap in a biohazard pocketbook , but quite the obstinate — the nurse handed me the placenta , double - bagged in plastic the way the butcher at the Mexican market wrapped up a clump of heart and soul . Surprising and comical , to say the least .
We placed the placenta in a ice chest for the drive domicile , then refrigerated it for a few day until I was ready to deal with it .
First , I made a print of the placenta . If you ’ve ever looked at one in soul , you might notice the side that faces the fetus resemble a tree . The veins look like branch and the umbilical cord form the automobile trunk — this is how the placenta earned its moniker as the tree of aliveness , and in many cultivation and historic references , a tree diagram of life is often associated with motherhood .
I lay down a click education lodgings on the kitchen counter , spread the placenta out so that the fetal side was facing up , then lightly press a canvas of bristol board over it .
It took a few tries , but the resulting imprint ( yes , in blood ) is a beautiful generalisation of a tree diagram . It ’s not as slaughterous as it sounds , and one daytime , I ’ll have it framed for Gemma ’s room . I think she ’ll appreciate learning what it is and how it came to be .
( Our supporter ’s kids actually saw the mark shortly after I made it . We judge to explain what it was , but I think it ’s a really strange and difficult conception for a five - twelvemonth - old son to wrap his mind around ! )
After make my art mark , I double - bagged the placenta in Ziplocs and put it in the freezer until we figured out where to plant it . We were charter at that time , so we did n’t want to plant it out in the yard .
We knew that one day we ’d move out of that family , and perhaps out of California ( update : we’re now in Oregon ! ) , so we want to be able to take this memory with us . We wanted a tree diagram that typify this degree in our life and pay court to Gemma ’s California roots , one that could happily hold out in a container , perhaps indefinitely .
We eventually settled on a Moro blood orange tree tree . ( A blood orange tree seems meet , no ? )
And so one good afternoon , we prepped an 18 - inch ceramic mess with a few in of soil and placed the frozen placenta on top of it . We said a few words of gratitude , covered the placenta with several more in of territory , and finish potting up the orange tree tree .
It hung out in our courtyard with all the other container citrus , and has been thriving the past duo years . We ca n’t await for the day it begin blooming !
need to see what this orange tree looked like after 18 months?Here ’s my update !
