Placenta, the most beautiful organ

I believe, as many others believe, that the placenta is a very special, and amazing organ, that historically has been treated with great reverence and respect. The word "placenta" comes from the Latin term for "cake".  There are those that do not cut the cord to disconnect the placenta from the baby, but rather let nature take it's course, and allow the umbilical cord detach on it's own, this is known as Lotus Birth.  Many cultures bury the placenta in ritual (article), and see it as an extension of the baby. Some choose to consume it's powers as medicine, known as placentophagy, as it is rich with nutrients and hormones.  Most mammals (with the exclusion of camels) consume their placenta, and there are opioid effects that animals receive by ingesting the amniotic fluid.  Lay midwives back in the day (and some today) understood it's medicinal properties, and would cut off a piece and have the mother hold it in her cheek, if she was hemorrhaging postpartum, to control the bleeding. Regardless of belief held, it was understood that the placenta was not something to be tossed like waste, without honor....like it is done today. This is an extension of today's mainstream birthing culture that gives birth in a hospital setting, with a highly skilled surgeon known as an obstetrician that intervenes too much with the birthing process, and where women often give away their autonomy with the belief that the doctor knows best.  The majority of today's births are induced, with epidurals in place, and one-third of those births are a cesarean delivery.  But let me not digress....

So today if a woman is lucky enough to birth at home with a competent CNM (certified nurse midwife), or CPM (certified professional midwife), she will ask the mother what she would like to do with her placenta. Sometimes women will bury it under a tree, some will consume it raw, as a smoothie, in a stew, or have it encapsulated -in pill form, while others choose nothing at all. If a woman is lucky enough to give birth in a free-standing birth center (which are few and far between) she will also get to choose what to do with her placenta. If a woman gives birth in a hospital, she will have to voice her wish to keep it, then maybe sign a waiver, but will be allowed to take her placenta home......if she is lucky. This is where it gets tricky, because hospitals have policies, hospitals have procedures, hospitals have a "risk management" department that worries of litigation, hospitals have state laws to abide by, and hospitals have incinerators that destroy bio-medical waste.  There was a case in Nevada where a woman fought the hospital to keep her placenta, and won (article). I find it sad that a woman who gives birth in a hospital has to sometimes "fight" to get what rightfully belongs to her. There is nothing sinister in one taking home their placenta. They are not going to take it around the neighborhood for a tour, spilling blood, or dump it in a pond for fish food. They will simply take it to their private home for ritual or consumption.

When I gave birth back in 2002, we took home our placenta, well my mother in-law took it home in a cooler, and it was placed in our freezer. I didn't consume it, though in retrospect I certainly should have, instead we had a Blessing ceremony in our back yard, and planted it under a baby sugar maple. We did the same thing when I gave birth again in 2004. I gave birth in Rhode Island, and didn't even have to sign a waiver back then. They simply triple bagged it, and handed it over. Today this same hospital holds the placenta in a cold fridge for 24 hours, but releases it with a signed religious waiver. Now that I am a Certified Placenta Encapsulation Specialist that serves Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, it is interesting to see the different policies of each state. No problem (so far) in RI, there was one issue at one hospital in MA, but they eventually released it, and no issues at other MA hospitals. Connecticut, the lovely state that I now call home considers the placenta "pathological" and therefore bio-medical waste, and so far 2 hospitals have refused to let their patients take her placenta home.  Now as far as I can discern from the DEP site, they give the hospital discretion as to allow a patient to take home an organ, or limb etc.(see #21), but advise caution, and restraint. I find this matter utterly ridiculous because first of all a placenta is not "pathological" in literal terms, unless it is diseased or abnormal- which is of course possible, but not probable. Second of all, it is a sacred organ (not a kidney) that belongs to both mother and child, which has historically shown to have spiritual and medicinal value. It is my sincere hope to get that one client in Connecticut, with some fortitude to challenge this "policy" of withholding placentas and treating them as trash!

Seriously,
Stacie