Monday, June 20, 2011

The lovely Placenta...

I really do love keeping this blog, and have found it enlightening. However, I crave to hear the thoughts of those who bless me with their time to read it...so I have decided to periodically post some questions or topics to discuss. Let's start a place where we can share our experiences and thoughts!

So, I am and have always been fascinated by the placenta. It is such an interesting and important creation. Many cultures have very specific rituals and beliefs centered around the placenta. I would love to start a discussion about placenta's...please, post any thoughts, practices, beliefs that you have seen or heard about this amazing organ....is placenta encapsulation popular where you are?....

Here is a thought to start off the talk....Placentas may be the only "meat" that is vegetarian, as no animal is killed in their production!....

8 comments:

  1. i'm not really in the placenta loop... but i do know that amongst my doula clients that encapsulation is gaining in popularity... most are drawn to it because of past depression issues... i've had one who encapsulated because of her history of chronic fatigue...

    it's funny that, as a former vegetarian for 20 years, i never considered placenta a vegetarian meat... talk about paradigm shift!

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  2. I'm fascinated with the placenta! What an amazing organ that is created solely for the growth and nurturing of a new life, and is then discarded, no longer needed. I love reading about different cultural perspectives of the placenta, and different placental rituals.

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  3. Here are several interesting links for you:

    http://www.ispub.com/ostia/index.php?xmlFilePath=journals/ijtwm/vol4n1/amniotic.xml

    http://www.servinghistory.com/topics/Placenta::sub::Cultural_Practices_And_Beliefs

    http://placentabenefits.info/culture.asp

    http://www.birthtoearth.com/FAQs/Placenta+Traditions.html

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  4. And one more:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC197976/pdf/mlab00187-0091.pdf

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  5. Thanks for the great links, At Your Cervix. I was just reading how in the Moari tradition the word for land and the word for placenta are the same! As we grow our child, we are also growing the land. That concept speaks to our responsibility to our children to care for the Earth?....

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  6. http://childbirthinternational.com/blog/?p=95

    The Hmong bury the placenta in the house. Babies who are born in the caul are believed to have been kings in a previous life, and have worn their robe into this life.

    http://www.livingislam.org/maa/puct_e.html

    In Muslim culture, while the blood of lochia is impure, the placenta itself, being of the baby, is considered pure. It is Sunna to bury the placenta.

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  7. Thanks, anonymous. Many cultures believe that the placenta needs/should be buried near the home and or homeland. I like the philosophy of the babies born en caul....I did a post about that. I have never heard of a negative association with it and hadn't heard the one about being kings....

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  8. I have had the opportunity to encapsulate both my own placenta's and those of my friends and clients. I have also made a homeopathic placenta remedy tincture. http://www.moonsong.com.au/placental.html
    I am a big supporter of honoring the placenta in some way whether it be by using it as medicine, burying it, burning it, sending it to sea... I feel it is the womb-mate to the babes and makes the ultimate sacrifice so that our wee ones can be born. Some families get it, some don't. Needless to say, i have a few placentas in my freezer waiting for me to get a chance to be in ceremony with them!
    In my area, women can donate their placentas to the local search and rescue to aid in training search dogs - maybe something to look into for your mamas.

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