Keeping the Placenta

[RasJi7]

The organ that has supported our baby for nine months- anyone else gonna keep theirs?

What are you doing with it?

I want to plant my baby boy's at the same time as a special tree- still thinking of something meaningful and symbolic to do. :

What are you doing with the placenta if keeping it? Sorry if this has been asked in this DDC before...

[SamuraiMom]

Well, I almost hate to admit it, but our littlest dd's placent is still in our freezer , we decided the other day that we will plant both placentas at the base of a special tree, when we figure out where! What I would like to do is plant 2 new trees in our garden this spring, a tree for each one. We shall see...

[Dea]

I am keeping mine. My midwife is going to make me a placenta smoothie for right after the birth then I will have the rest encapsulated to help stave off PPD, and my midwife will do this as part of her fee.

I think I'm also going to do a print of my placenta. My midwife says I need water colour paper and just the natural fluids on it will serve as the paint.

I'm really excited to see it, I want to inspect it and marvel at it. I think they're fascinating!

I've read about planting them, and apparently if you do, make sure the placenta is deep because it can burn the roots of the tree.

[Gunter]

we'll be keeping the placenta, too! we plan to bury it under a tree eventually. maybe in the spring or next year.

i have ezra's in the freezer b/c i didn't want to plant it at the house where she was born b/c i just didn't feel connected to that place. i love our house now though so would like to plant them both here sometime soon. if i have too much bleeding, i am up for snagging a bite of it. not planning on it though...perhaps i should read up more to be convinced about this.

i have heard to wait a while before planting it and to plant it frozen so it doesn't burn up the ground with it's super nutrients.

in bali, where i worked at a birth center, they plant it under the front doorstep and take the babe/kid there when s/he is fussy to center her/him with it's first home place. i was told more than once that it's important for the kid to have access to visiting their placenta and that it helps them calm down.

[FelixMom]

Guess I'm the only one with intentions to EAT my placenta...: Yup, I cooked it with cooking wine, ginger and an onion, then dried it in the oven over low heat for 24 hrs. Now am awaiting a friend's coffee grinder and encapsulation kit and away we go!

[birthmommom]

I did not keep mine.
although I kinda wish I kept a part of it to plant under the rose plant dh bought for me.

[smokeylo]

Originally Posted by FelixMom

Guess I'm the only one with intentions to EAT my placenta...: Yup, I cooked it with cooking wine, ginger and an onion, then dried it in the oven over low heat for 24 hrs. Now am awaiting a friend's coffee grinder and encapsulation kit and away we go!

I'm having mine encapsulated. I'm excited about it!!

[Dea]

Originally Posted by smokeylo

I'm having mine encapsulated. I'm excited about it!!

Me too! FelixMom why did you cook it with wine and an onion and ginger if it's going to be encapsulated?

My midwife says her husband hates it when she's processing a placenta, he asks her if she's cooking human again, hee hee....

[guestmama9972]

I am keeping mine. I want to plant it under a tree later this spring. I am also considering somehow ingesting part of it to ward off PPD.

[nolonger]

i wanted to do the trees too and wound up giving both older kids' placentas to the ocean instead when we had to move to a different town. dd was nine years old and ds1 was 6.

part of ds2's placenta is in the freezer, but i cut it up into little chunks first for smoothies (after taking pictures--it was a beautiful placenta!) which i really can feel evening out my mood. i drank one every day for the first week or so and now i drink one when i feel the need.

we also waited to cut the cord until ds2 was about 36 hours old, but the placenta is fine for eating anyway.

[Dea]

Originally Posted by noordinaryspider

i wanted to do the trees too and wound up giving both older kids' placentas to the ocean instead when we had to move to a different town. dd was nine years old and ds1 was 6.

part of ds2's placenta is in the freezer, but i cut it up into little chunks first for smoothies (after taking pictures--it was a beautiful placenta!) which i really can feel evening out my mood. i drank one every day for the first week or so and now i drink one when i feel the need.

we also waited to cut the cord until ds2 was about 36 hours old, but the placenta is fine for eating anyway.

What do you put in a smoothie. My midwife found a recipe but it used V8 juice and I don't know how tasty that will be. I was planning on using lots of strawberries and such. But on the other hand I should taste it, and really experience it. I'm on the fence.
In any case what's in your smoothie?

[flapjack]

A chunk of mine is being homoeopathised. I was going to do placenta prints, but because it was left somewhere wholly inappropriate for the rest of the night I got up the morning after, looked at it and retched. So it went straight in the freezer, and then back to the midwife for incineration.

I strongly suggest that if you're of a squeamish disposition, you don't leave your placenta next to halfmade shepherds pie. It really can turn your stomach to the beauty of both things I was feeling pretty nauseous anyhow this time, which might have something to do with it, though?

[steph117]

Originally Posted by flapjack

I strongly suggest that if you're of a squeamish disposition, you don't leave your placenta next to halfmade shepherds pie. It really can turn your stomach to the beauty of both things I was feeling pretty nauseous anyhow this time, which might have something to do with it, though?

Helen!!!!!!

I would like to make placenta prints, & also save it. The potential problem we have is a smaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall freezer. And it's already full of freezer meals/food. I honestly don't know how we'll fit it in there. But I don't want to plant it in this backyard, really...I'd love to save it. We'll have to figure it out somehow. Maybe I can vacuum-seal it so it's flat or something? Hmmmm....

[RasJi7]

Wow so many great ideas... I didn't know anything about eating it helping to ward off PPD- sounds worth a shot to me.

I also love the idea of a placenta print as I am not sure that I will be able to get the placenta home with me. Baby and I will travel home once he is here and I'm not sure how the airline will take to a frozen body part in my luggage... I would really like to bring it home with us and love the idea of the baby being able to visit the site of his first home. I got to figure something out.

Thanks for all the great ideas! And please post the smoothie recipe

[flapjack]

FWIW, the reason I'm preserving mine is because I know a few people who have found that placenta- eating helped with menopause symptoms, especially those who are experiencing perimenopausal symptoms. Given the difficulties I had getting- and staying- pregnant this time, I don't think I've got another 10 or 15 years of babyhaving in front of me, so that's just something I'm thinking about.

[steph117]

Originally Posted by RasJi7

Baby and I will travel home once he is here and I'm not sure how the airline will take to a frozen body part in my luggage...

Oof! Good point!!! Maybe if you got a dr's prescription & call it PPD medication or something...

[nolonger]

Originally Posted by Dea

What do you put in a smoothie. My midwife found a recipe but it used V8 juice and I don't know how tasty that will be. I was planning on using lots of strawberries and such. But on the other hand I should taste it, and really experience it. I'm on the fence.
In any case what's in your smoothie?

i blend a chunk of frozen placenta with "enough" (about 1/2 cup) soy milk, then add 3-4 frozen strawberries (essential for my psychological reaction to the colour), a couple of slices of frozen peaches, and a banana,

i rarely taste the placenta, but i'm kind of a wimp that way; other than a couple of cravings for salmon that i satisfied during the 3rd trimester, i'm mostly vegan so preparing my own placenta was enough of a stretch for me.

[Gunter]

how'd you decide?

willing to share?

the resources or experiences you had that have convinced you to eat part of the placenta? i am curious and considering if i should do it. i am open to info, advice and suggestions.

[Dea]

I decided to consume my placenta because there is proof that it can help with PPD and if it's properly processed and encapsulated it can keep indefinatly and help with menopause (like Flapjack suggested). I decided to have part in a smoothie following the birth because it can help with blood clotting (although my midwife isn't read to wait for it to work and if I am bleeding too much she will use pitocin to make it stop). And a big reason I want a smoothie is to experience it and to shock my MIL! Hee hee.
I want to make a print of it because I can, and I think placentas are fascinating!

[loraxc]

Mine is in the freezer. I'm all bummed because I forgot to do more than glance at it after the birth, and the midwives said it was heart-shaped, which sounds cool.

We will definitely plant it under a tangerine tree I got DH for Xmas. I am considering the smoothie thing, but it does kinda freak me out. We planted our first DD's under an oak tree that is now getting so big (sniff).