WARNING: While some people would just prefer for the hospital staff to dispose of the placenta, some prefer to do something special with it. So while this page may not be for everyone, it is of interest to some. Please refrain from sending me nasty letters about this... if you don't find this to your liking, please just go to another page. Try to keep an open mind...
Planting Your Placenta
Many people freeze their placentas until they get a special tree or bush in honor of the new baby. After digging an appropriately sized hole, score the sides of the hole so the soil is more amenable to tender roots. Put the placenta in, and cover it with a half to a full inch of soil before placing the plant on top of it. Hold the plant steady while the rest of the hole is filled. Water the plant well after planting. Newly planted trees and shrubs need to be watered on a regular basis the first year until they form a good root system. As the placenta breaks down in the soil, the tree or shrub will reap the benefits of all the nutrients packed in that placenta. Now, just enjoy watching your baby and new yard addition grow!
Making Placenta Prints
This may appeal to some of you who enjoy doing artistic endeavors. Before the birth, pick up a few sheets of nice quality art paper. This can be watercolor paper, or some of the really unique specialty papers found in an art supply store. After the birth, take the fresh placenta and lay it out on the paper. You can make the prints with the blood that covers it, or wipe it off and put ink or paint on it first. To get the best prints, make sure there isn't too much or too little fluid for the print. Many parents have found this to be a fun activity as well as giving them a very unique, artistic keepsake of their pregnancy.
Membrane Art
As a student midwife I saw a beautiful "picture" up at a woman's house. It looked like an image of an angel. It was in fact the caul. Their last baby had been born with the membranes intact and the mother asked a friend to put the membranes onto a sheet of paper. Ta Da!! It really was lovely! ~Andrya, UK
This was shared on the midwife-mirror list:
Traditional Chinese Medicine Placenta Preparation
by Janneli Miller, Midwife
(If anyone knows how to contact Ms. Miller, please let me know. I'd like to make sure I've given her all the proper credit, as well as listing a way for people to contact her for more information or to get placenta preparations.)
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, placenta is considered
a powerful and sacred medicine, full of life force. Raven Lang,
a midwife who studied Traditional Chinese Medicine, advises the
use of placenta during the postpartum course to aid in recovery
from childbirth. After the placenta is prepared it is taken in
capsule form, 2 capsules at a time, with white wine. The wine
is said to help disperse the energy of the placenta throughout
the body. Women can take this dose up to three times a day, and
continue until they no longer feel a need. Remaining placenta
can be saved and used homeopathically for those times when the
child undergoes a separation from the mother. For example, when
first learning to walk, or when weaning, or when going off ory
is made from qi and blood, human placenta used to augment qi
and blood will help augment lactation.
I first heard of making placenta into medicine from Raven
Lang at a MANA convention in 1984. I have been making it for
all my clients since. I do it as a routine, and have only had
one client not want it. For all you who are
ROFL right now, let me say that the placenta is prepared into
a powder and encapsulated, so it's not so undesirable. To prepare,
it must be cooked. Cooking in TCM is an integral part of the
formation and action of the medicine. Raw is generally considered
cooling, so raw placenta is cooling, and I wouldn't recommend
it as a general rule. Also, none of the actions of human placenta
as I am describing it can be attributed to the raw placenta.
Cooking it is part of making it what it is. To cook, wash excess
blood from the placenta. Place it in a steamer over water. Place
with it fresh ginger slices, half a lemon and a hot pepper. Steam
for 15 minutes, turn, and steam 15 more minutes until no juice
comes out when pricked with a fork. (Steam over low heat, it
has a tendency to boil over and that's a mess.) The membranes
and cord may be cooked with the placenta. It is helpful to turn
the placenta to "Schultz," i.e., wrapped inside the
membrane when you cook it. It will shrink tremendously, and wrapped
in the membranes makes it easy to deal with for the next step.
After steaming, slice the placenta in 1/8" strips, similar
to making jerky. Slice
as thin as possible. Place the strips on a cookie sheet (over
aluminum foil if you're squeamish) and place it in an oven on
the lowest possible setting for several hours until completely
brittle-dry. (Again like jerky) Using a food
dehydrator is even better, but will take longer. Powder the strips
in a coffee grinder, and encapsulate. I advise clients to take
two capsules three times a day for two weeks postpartum. It can
be kept indefinitely, but is best kept in a freezer long term
(like any meat to school or daycare.
I have been preparing and giving placenta to women for 10 years. It is not recommended for everyone, but women who do want to take it have reported that they do not have trouble with postpartum depression and seem to heal quickly from any trauma experienced because of birth. While it is difficult to say that the placenta is responsible, there are physiological reasons that may be at work. The placenta is full of natural oxytocins which are responsible for contracting the uterus and minimizing postpartum bleeding. Also it contains hormones which have recently been shown to help in the relief of postpartum depression. Women who use placenta have said it makes them feel nurtured. It takes about 12-16 hours to prepare the placenta according to the recipe advocated by Raven Lang. I will prepare your placenta for you for a donation of $50, or trade of similar value. The preparation is not difficult but Raven noted that one must keep in mind the powerful and sacred nature of the organ you are working with at all times. I am honored to do this work and enjoy preparing the placentas for homebirth women. If you choose to prepare it yourself, the recipe follows.
Gently rinse the fresh placenta (it must not have been frozen,
the fresher the better), keeping as much blood as possible. Steam
the placenta for 15 minutes, then turn it over and steam for
15 more minutes. In the steaming water you must put a jalapeño
pepper, some fresh ginger root and a slice of lime. When the
placenta is finished steaming
slice it into thin strips and place these in a dehydrator or
your oven at its lowest temperature. Dry the strips until they
are completely dry, they should snap. This generally takes about
8 to 10 hours. Your house will smell like placenta (women like
this smell but men generally find it unpleasant). When the slices
are completely dry, break them up into smaller chunks and then
grind them into a fine powder. Raven noted that any energy you
have while
working with the placenta will be absorbed into the medicine,
so please keep yourself centered. This also applies to your mode
of grinding-if you use a blender or electric grinder your placenta
will have "blender energy" (direct quote from Raven!).
A mortar and pestle can be used or a hand grinder. Raven said
you can also put the pieces in a paper bag and pound with a rock.
When you have powdered the placenta keep it in a cool dark place
in a glass jar tightly capped. It will keep indefinitely this
way.
Placenta Recipes (Mothering
Magazine, September 1983, Vol. 28, pg 76)
Editor's note: I have not heard of anyone who routinely makes a habit of eating placenta... it would be an 'after-the-birth-only' type activity. Many animals, including herbivores routinely eat their placentas, as it replaces vitamins and minerals lost during the labor process. Many women who have tried it swear they feel better faster, and they do not suffer from postpartum depression because of the nutrients the placenta has given them. It has been called a 'harmless' meat, as no creature is killed to procure it. Placentas should only be eaten fresh, if this is something that appeals to you.
Each placenta weighs approximately 1/6 of the baby's weight.
Cut the meat away from the membranes with a sharp knife. Discard
the membranes.
Placenta Cocktail:
1/4 cup raw placenta
8oz V-8 juice
2 ice cubes
1/2 cup carrot.
Blend at high speed for 10 seconds
Placenta Lasagne:
Use your favorite Lasagne recipe and substitute this mixture
for one layer of cheese. In 2 tbl. olive oil, quickly saute meat
of 3/4 placenta, ground or minced; plus 2 sliced cloves of garlic,
1/2 tsp. oregano, 1/2 diced onion & 2 tbl. tomato paste,
or 1 whole tomato.
Placenta Spaghetti:
Cut meat of 3/4 placenta into bite size pieces, then brown quickly
in 1 tbl. butter plus 1 tbl. oil. Then add 1 large can tomato
puree, 2 cans crushed pear tomatoes, 1 onion, 2 cloves of garlic,
1 tbl. molasses, 1 bay leaf, 1 tbl. rosemary, 1 tsp. ea. of salt,
honey, oregano, basil, and fennel. Simmer 1 1/2 hours.
Placenta Stew:
Meat of 3/4 placenta in bite size chunks, 1 potato (cubed), 1/4
cup fresh parsley, 2 carrots, 3 ribs celery, 1 zucchini, 1 large
tomato, 1 small onion. Dredge meat in 1 tbl. flour mixed with
1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. paprika, pinch of cloves, pinch of pepper,
6-8 crushed coriander seeds. Saute meat in 2 tbl. oil, then add
vegetables (cut up) and 4-5 cups of water. Bring to full boil,
then simmer for 1 hour.
Placenta Pizza:
Grind placenta. Saute in 2 tbl. olive oil with 4 garlic cloves,
then add 1/4 tsp. fennel, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1/4 tsp. paprika,
1/4 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. oregano, 1/4 tsp. thyme, and 1/4 cup
of wine. Allow to stand for 30 minutes, then use with your favorite
home made pizza recipe. It's a fine placenta sausage topping.
found at: http://rainforest.parentsplace.com/dialog/get/newf4homebirth1/49/3.html
Placenta Roast:
All "food" should be properly cleaned prior to cooking, and all "food" should be properly cooked prior to eating.
This is a good recipe for placenta, which should NOT go to waste:
INGREDIENTS:
1 to 3 lb. placenta no more than 3 days old
1 large onion
1 large green or red pepper (green will add color to the presentation)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
1 tsp crab or shrimp seasoning
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1 clove garlic (roasted and minced)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Chop onion and green or red pepper in small cubes. Place in large bowl. Crush saltines into crumbs and add to onion and pepper cubes.
COMBINE IN LARGE BOWL:
Placenta, seafood seasoning, pepper, garlic, and tomato sauce. Place into aluminum loaf pan. Cover and bake for 1 and 1/2 hours, occasionally pouring off excess liquid. Retain liquid for gravy base if desired.
~posted to the Homebirth email list