You’ve given birth — not only to your baby, but also to the placenta. What do you do with it?
During a pregnancy, the placenta plays a vital role connecting the mother to her baby in utero and supplying the baby with oxygen, nutrients, and hormones. After birthing their baby, women will undergo the third stage of labor: birthing the placenta, along with the amniotic fluids, or “membranes.”
In a hospital setting, the placenta is often immediately discarded in the hazardous waste bin. In many traditions around the world, however, the placenta holds great reverence and often plays a ceremonial role after the labor. Navajo, Native Hawaiian, and Maori customs, among many others, hold that by burying the placenta in their homelands, the child is bound to the land and thus, to their ancestral heritage. Placentophagy, or consuming the placenta, is also practiced around the world, though seemingly for more medicinal than ritual use. In the West, it is growing more common for women to choose to encapsulate their placenta for later consumption, as to take advantage of the organ’s protein and nutrient density. Consuming the placenta is believed to deliver necessary iron to new mothers who are often iron-deficient after giving birth, although a recent clinical study found that there was no difference in iron level restoration between participants eating placenta versus a beef placebo (Gryder 2017).
Though many doulas now offer placenta encapsulation and other services for placenta consumption, I choose to practice the ritual of placenta burial with my interested clients. In Islamic tradition, placenta burial is considered Sunnah, or Prophetic practice. In the Qur’an, Creator says, “From the earth We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We will extract you another time” (Ayah Ta Ha 20:55). Following this guidance, many Muslims will wash the placenta, wrap it in cloth, and bury it in an auspicious place, as they would with their dead.
Tying together my spiritual tradition with my own intuition and with Native traditions that I deeply respect, I’ve chosen to offer Placenta Burial & Tree Planting ceremonies. Each ceremony will look different depending on the client and their specific desires, but I’ve found that this is such a special way to honor mama, placenta, baby, and the land that held them all as they grew together. The tree, in addition to the surrounding ecosystem, will benefit greatly from the nutrients of the placenta buried at its roots. The baby that has entered the world will get to grow in community with the tree, and the tree will bear witness to the child’s growth. My hope is that this tree serves as a grounding presence for the child, and a reminder to mom of her own power.
References:
Gryder, Laura (2017). "Effects of Human Maternal Placentophagy on Maternal Postpartum Iron-Status: A Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Pilot Study". Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health. 62(1): 68–79. doi:10.1111/jmwh.12549
Why Placenta Burial? Why a Tree Planting Ceremony?
This tradition is inspired by a Sequoia tree that’s been growing in my childhood backyard, since the conception of my baby brother in 2002.
My beautiful and loving mother Amanda, my amazing father Jens, my dear older brother, Alex, and my baby brother, Nicky, pictured in my mama’s womb.
Salt Lake City Birth & Newborn Photography
Little me with my Omi Ingrid, the mother of my father.