Placentas I've Known & Loved

When I say the word “placenta” what comes to your mind? “Gross garbage”? “Bloody afterbirth”? Placenta means to me “nurturing companion.” It is what grows along side us inside the womb as our lifeline until we are born. It is disgraceful to send this essential partner in creating life to the trash. Finding a way to honor that-which-nurtures, in the form of placentas, is a worthy task.

Some people make placenta prints, having sheets of watercolor paper on hand at the birth, placing it on the paper and letting the birth blood act as paint to preserve the size and shape of this life-giving organ as a keepsake.

Others bury their placenta. My daughter’s placenta is in the mountains, near her father’s family cabin. We know which rock it’s under, near which tree and on which path. I like to go there and contemplate. Many people have planted a tree to honor their newborn and put their placenta in the ground before placing the tree in the hole. That way, it continues to feed new life. The tree grows as the child grows.

Traditional Chinese Medicine considers the placenta treasured medicine, drying it properly to pass on the life force in it to the mother, baby or anyone else who might need and want this potent boost to their body. One friend tinctured her baby’s placenta with the same idea in mind.

At many a birth I’ve served a placenta cocktail, and tasted a few sips myself. I’d cut a hunk off the newly born placenta about the size of a 50 cent piece and blend it with juice. This is especially indicated after long or difficult labors to fortify the mother with the large amount of nutrients & hormones still alive in the afterbirth. The foamy texture of the drink makes it different from most smoothies—it must have been the fats in it that formed the tiny bubbles. Tomato juice seemed more coordinated to the fleshy taste, but we always let Mom decide what kind of juice and whether she would partake in this practice.

Placenta is, after all, the only meat you can eat without killing. Even when I was vegetarian, I felt it was blessed, a special food like manna from heaven, given with Mother’s consent. Many animals eat their placentas after giving birth, both to strengthen themselves and to clean up birth smells that might attract predators. Certainly, I’d only eat placenta from someone who I knew to be healthy and free from blood borne diseases.

Some families went so far as to cook their placenta. It has a liver-like taste and texture when steamed, sautéed with onions or, like when following the wishes of one family, cooked with spaghetti sauce.

What ever form your honoring takes, may all placentas will be treated with the respect they deserve.

Placenta- excerpt from "Giving Birth to Ourselves, contemplations for midwives and other birth companions."

The placenta is an amazing organ of nourishment & cleansing, which also maintains the hormonal state of pregnancy in the mother. The beauty of a healthy placenta goes far beyond its meaty mother's side and shiny baby's side. Yet many people in this culture abhor the thought of seeing and touching it. It is treated as garbage or made into cosmetics after the birth. Honoring the placenta is a way of honoring nourishment and the process of life itself.

In giving birth to ourselves we each have that which nourishes and cleanses us, maintaining the state of creation in us. That is our placenta now. It may be something very meaty, motherly , shiny, or baby-like. It may be Mother Earth Herself . Whatever it is that provides for us in this way brings us the blessings and nourishment of our Great Mother. By honoring it - acknowledging & thanking it for it's support- we honor ourselves and the process of giving birth to ourselves.

Contemplations--

· Do I know what constitutes my placenta now?
· Do I honor it?
· What could I do to better respect this aspect of giving birth to myself?

Activities--

Create a physical representation of your placenta to help remind you of it. It could be a special pillow, or a collage of pictures that represent that which sustains you.
Start a placenta book. It could include anything you learn about nourishing yourself and physical placentas.
Be sure that all birth placentas you are in contact with are treated with respect - if need be, take custody.

Giving Birth to Ourselves, contemplations for midwives and other birth companions by Terra Rafael is available as a print on demand book or download at www.lulu.com