Placenta Prints, Placenta Planting and Placentophagy

The placenta is the amazing organ that is creating with an embryo and is born with the baby. During the time in between the placenta nourishes the growing babe with nutrients and oxygen. It acts as a barrier to some maternal disease and removes waste. After birth some women like to keep their placenta and find a special way to honor it.

If you have a homebirth then you automatically get to keep your placenta. If you are having a birth center or hospital birth then you will have to ask to keep it. Remember, it is your placenta. Unless there is a reason for it to be sent to pathology then you shouldn't have a problem taking it home. If you are planning to eat it then you may want to bring a cooler. Otherwise you can just freeze it at home.

Consuming a placenta is known as placentophagy. There are many reasons why a woman would choose to eat her placenta. The placenta is packed full of nutrients that the mother often loses during birth. Eating the placenta is a fast way to regain them. It is also said to ward off postpartum depression. While you could choose to eat a chunk raw right after birth there are many recipes available. You can substitute placenta in many meals that would normally take beef or liver. Placenta lasagna and placenta spaghetti are time tested favorites. You could also cut the placenta into pieces to freeze and make smoothies. The sweet taste of fruit often masks the flavor of the placenta.

If you want to consume your placenta for the health benefits but don't think that you could stomach the though of a Strawberry-Placenta-Banana smoothie, then you can dry and powder your placenta. Susan James wrote an article for the Compleat Mother in 1996 giving specific instructions in the art of placenta dehydration. You must first steam the placenta with lemon grass and ginger and then slice and dehydrate. You can then pulverize it into powder to be added to food or taken in capsule form.

If you don't want to eat your placenta there are still other ways to use and honor it. If you are the artsy type, then you can create a placenta print. Either using paints or the blood on the placenta you simply stamp the image onto paper or canvas. The baby's side has a network of blood vessels that makes for an interesting design while the maternal side looks more like ground meat.

One of the most common ways to honor and preserve a placenta is to bury it. You can bury your placenta near an existing tree or bush. You can also buy a special plant just for the ceremony. A large patio plant is a great choice if you aren't in your permanent home. Some people recommend planting the placenta while it is still partially frozen so that the smell doesn't attract animals. This may shock your plant of choice. A great compromise to placentophagy is to plant your placenta under a fruit tree. Then it will nourish the plant that will in turn nourish your family.

No matter how you choose to celebrate the amazing work your placenta has done you will have a cherished memory of love and gratitude. Whether you choose to eat, decorate or bury your placenta you will be able to enjoy it for years to come.

For recipes, please visit: http://www.twilightheadquarters.com/placenta.html