PLACENTA TREE MIDWIFERY
A Natural Maternity Care, for a Natural Way of Birthing.
THE PLACENTA:
This organ grows from the time of conception to eventually take over the production of hormones needed to sustain the pregnancy at around 12 weeks gestation (from your last menstrual period). It supplies your growing baby with a means of obtaining nutrients for development as well as a method of waste disposal. This is the only disposable organ ever made.
Lotus Birth
Some mothers believe the placenta continues to provide for the baby even after the birth and choose to leave the placenta attached to the baby via the uncut umbilical cord until it eventually dries up and falls off naturally.
Some families have ceremonies for the placenta. For example, in some cultures it is commonplace to leave the baby attached to the placenta, rather than clamp the cord, until the cord dries up and falls off.
This is called a Lotus birth and is not practiced often in the United States. The theories behind this are that it helps slow the new family down and offers them more seclusion in the first few days when getting to know the new baby.
Some families will take the placentas and bury them in the ground to celebrate the new life given to them. This dedication of the placenta back to the earth or in honor of the child is becoming more frequent. A year later a tree or flower is then planted in the same spot to allow the placenta to nourish its growth. The reason that you would wait this year is that a placenta is so nutrient rich that it would kill anything planted before that period.
What about placenta art? Yes, you can make art out of it. Generally mothers talk about placenta prints. After the birth you take a piece of paper and lay the placenta on it. If it is fresh you can let the blood and amniotic fluid leave the print or others choose to use paints to add color. Now what? Well, hang your framed art or store it for safekeeping.
It is a Hawaiian tradition to plant the placenta (or "iewe," pronounced eh-AY-vay) in a religious ceremony. The iewe is considered sacred and when planted with a tree is watched as it grows to better understand psychological and spiritual changes in the child.
In Australia, it is an Aboriginal tradition to plant the placenta under a special tree or bush. Actor, Matthew McConaughey recently brought this ritual into news when he announced that he planned to plant the placenta, from the birth of his son Levi, in an orchard.
The placenta can be frozen until you are ready to plant it. Some cultures plant the placenta and leave it in the ground for one year before planting the tree. After planting it in the ground, the placenta breaks down in the soil and delivers nutrients that will produce a beautiful tree that you can watch grow with your child. The symbolism connects your child to the tree in a very special and beautiful way. Some families choose to throw placenta planting parties and turn the event into a big celebration honoring their child.
Then comes the practice of placentophagia, eating the placenta, is also practiced in some parts of the world. There are even meal like recipes for cooking placentas, including placenta stew, placenta lasagna, power drinks with blended placenta and others. Though some mothers have been reported to eat placenta raw.
Consumption of uncooked human placenta carries risks associated with other human blood products,primarily risk of hepatitis B,C and HIV infection.However, eating one's own placenta does not carry those risks
There are many reasons listed for eating the placenta, including it helping stem postpartum depression and it supposedly helps to contract the uterus after the birth. We know that many animals eat their own placenta, including as a means to hide the scent from predators.
In our modern world this may seem barbaric and some have even said that this could spread HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis. While this is very true if people other than the mother consume the placenta, normally it is only the mother partaking of the placenta. 
In Chinese Medicine, the placenta is known as a great life force and is highly respected in terms of its medicinal value. However, in this field it is not cook, but rather usually dried. To dry a placenta you would simply dehydrate it in the oven, then using a mortar and pestle grind it up. From there you can mix it with food or ingest it within capsules. I have actually done this for moms who suffered from depression after previous births and decided they wanted to try the placenta pills after giving birth to her second child to prevent this, and i had them done for them. No matter what you choose to do with your placenta, remember to value the life it has helped you nurture and bring forth. It is, after all, the Tree of Life.
"'Midwifery is not what we do,
it is who we are.
When we practice our craft,
we live our values.
The way we assist a woman
creates a gentle and kind
world for her and her baby."
---UNKNOWN
The Tree of Life
The concept of a many-branched tree illustrating the idea that all life on earth is related has been used in science, religion, philosophy, mythology and other areas. A tree of life is variously, a) a mystical concept alluding to the interconnectedness of all life on our planet, b) a metaphor for common descent in the evolutionary sense, and c) a motif in various world theologies, mythologies and philosophies.
Plan Ahead!
If you are planning to take your placenta home from the hospital with you, it's a good idea to discuss it with your doctor/midwife and hospital before your actual delivery to avoid any problems with hospital staff, rules and regulations, etc. If you are planning to eat or encapsulate your placenta it is very important to be sure it is handled properly from the moment of birth. Don't let this happen to your priceless placenta! The German word for placenta is Mutterkuchen and the Dutch word for it is moederkoek. Both words literally mean "mother-cake".Your placenta can be ruined by improper care!
Gifts to Commemorate a Lotus Birth
"Mother-Cake"
