what did you do with the placenta? - Page 2

[Sofiamomma]

Originally posted by sylviamama:

"The highlight of the ceremony was my 5 year old niece exclaiming at the top of her lungs "Ewwwwww! What's that? It's gross!" as the placenta slid out of the plasticware into the ground. Who was supposed to prepare that munchkin......?"

Ummmm, that would be me! Who knew?! I was lying on your kitchen floor with a migraine instead of preparing my dd for seeing a placenta!(I was pg , but didn't know yet, hence the migraine. Our girls are 9 months apart! )If it makes you feel any better, sis, I prepared her so well for Ellie's placenta burial that she could be heard loudly directing her little friend, Hannah, who was in attendance, not to yell, "Ewwwwww, gross!" :

We had similar ceremonies to sylviamama's for my girls' placentas, as they share a grampa and "high priest"! I didn't plant anything over either one, but rather buried them under the same crabapple tree in my parent's yard (we live in an apartment above their house). It was December when Sophia was born so her placenta stayed in the freezer for so long, I finally just wanted to do something with it, so didn't buy a tree. Then I wanted to be sure both girls were treated the same.

[asherah]

ds is 13 months old..
and mine is still in the freezer.
I hope to put it in the ocean...

[sleepies]

Donated ours to research

Ours went to a donation thing in our city's hospital.

They might use it for stem cells to help someone.
Might use them for research.
Might not use them and we could always try to get them if they are available we get first dibs!

I wish everyone had the option to chose to donate, I am happy with the choice.


The idea of eating it is making me queazy.

[Peppamint]

Well, I didn't take dd's placenta... and I'm not sure what the hospital did with it. We didn't have the money to pay to bank it.

Ds' placenta is in the freezer. I finally hid it at the back on thebottom shelf because dh was grossing out on it every night when he packed his cooler for work- it was on the top shelf right at eye level! :LOL

We'll plant it eventually. We're adding on to the house, but I'm not sure if we'll stay here permanently or not. I might plant it on my parent's land... or my BIL's land if he buys the 40 acres he put an offer on.

[JesseMomme]

I think with my first two hospital births the placentas wound up in hazardous waste disposals of some sort. :

[Cloverlove]

After the birth of my first child, my midwife stir-fried it with garlic and onions and I ate (part-of) it! It was a psycological exercise, but I did feel very nourished and it helped tremendously with my ppd. Dh even tried some!

For our second child, we had a nice ceremony and buried it in the ocean at low tide.

For both, I wrapped the umbilical cord in a spiral, let it dry out and put it their medicine bags.

[rebx]

I voted "Other" because ours is still in my parent's freezer...We plan on planting it, but when DD was born, the ground was too cold to plant anything. My mom volunteered to store it in her large freezer so our small one had more room for food. Hopefully, this summer we'll plant a tree at my parents place with the placenta to nourish its roots.

My folks still live in the house I grew up in, and we want DD's tree to be somewhere more permanent than our back yard, since we hope to move within 5 years.

I don't think we'll have a fancy ceremony, maybe read a few poems & prayers & take a few photos of the planting.

Does anyone know if it's too late for me to dry the umbilical cord, now that it's been frozen for 6 months? I'd love to try that, if it's still possible...

[DIESEL]

Eating the Placenta

I am amazed with the comments regarding eating the placenta. I dont think the child or the family will feel the "honor" when you eat the placenta. I probably think they will feel sick and confused. Why are you eating a human, mutual benefical organ that has worked very hard to nourish this new child. I can almost see planting the placenta. You need to see a psychiatrist. Probably have a phone number already.

I am proud of my hands, and the brain that controls them, I will not honor them by eating them, instead I will take care of them properly, maybe put some lotion on the hands and take the correct vitamins to help nourish the brain.

[Doodlebugsmom]

Unfortunately, we didn't save dd's placenta. I'm sure it was disposed of at the hospital. I would like to keep my next child's placenta and plant it under a tree, like many of you have done. Our midwife did show us dd's placenta and explain all about it. It was very cool.

Annakiss, I liked your placenta picture. It sure looks different than mine did.

DIESEL, there are benefits to eating the placenta. It works very well in stopping post-partum hemmorage. It could actually save a woman's life if she was bleeding profusely. It can also aid in preventing post-partum depression. I've heard that it works wonders for that. All other mammals eat the placenta, I don't think it is strange for humans to do so even though I wouldn't do it myself unless I really needed it. It is full of good vitamins and the hormones in it are what help the bleeding and depression. If I were to eat it, I would freeze-dry it and put it in capsules.

[Peppamint]

Re: Eating the Placenta

Originally posted by DIESEL
I am amazed with the comments regarding eating the placenta. I dont think the child or the family will feel the "honor" when you eat the placenta. I probably think they will feel sick and confused. Why are you eating a human, mutual benefical organ that has worked very hard to nourish this new child. I can almost see planting the placenta. You need to see a psychiatrist. Probably have a phone number already.

I am proud of my hands, and the brain that controls them, I will not honor them by eating them, instead I will take care of them properly, maybe put some lotion on the hands and take the correct vitamins to help nourish the brain.

Nice first post!

Welcome to the boards, huh?

[ChildoftheMoon]

Actually eating the placenta is very common in some childbirth traditions. It is thought to help the mother produce extra good stuff in her milk. Don't have the book handy to share the practices, (nak-ing) To each there own

With dd1 we were in hospital and were lucky to just look at it. Apparently mine was quite a spectacle because it was so huge. So that is where that extra 60 pounds came from!

With dd2 we planted it on a hillside of dh's grandparent's property.

[myrrhmaid]

nak

my placenta ended up being very used up this time around. it was very tiny and gritty, either from dates being off or possibly because i had some high blood pressure. so we won't be steaming and dehydrating it for consumption. we went ahead and froze it & will plant it sometime in the fall. i wonder if its ok to plant it in a oak barrel under a rose or fruit tree or is it best in the ground. anyone here use a container? i love the idea of spiralling and drying the cord for a medicine bag. i'm going to try that once it thaws, dries and sew it into an animal shaped 'bag'. thanks for the idea! its so neat to see the different ways we are empowered as women and how that manifests itself it the expression of nourishing ourselves, our lives, plant life and us spiritually and artistically!

[BusyMommy]

Didn't save #1 but planted a Mt. Ash over #2. And, OMG imagine how I felt when I saw the dog come running in w/a dirty nose. Luckily, I'd called her in before she got down that far. I am certain. Yes, I am. Our Mt. Ash is now safely fenced