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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

did you keep your placenta?and what did you do with it?

66 replies

redbeki · 28/11/2006 22:23

We kept both of ours in freezer and had a tree planting ceremony on their first birthdays,haven't had third one long enough yet! yes ,boring,I know,dwarf trees are very special to them both.Have you done anything more interesting with yours?Or does this make you cringe?

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twolittleducks · 28/11/2006 23:09

Some people eat it, fried with onions.. No joke!! Very good for you.....

We didn't though, to be honest, i didn't really know you had the option to do this??

Quite a nice idea though..

FredBassett · 28/11/2006 23:13

Didn't even think of keeping mine - grosses me out tbh

dizietsma · 29/11/2006 00:26

Still in the freezer, DD is 16mo

Plan was to keep it in case of PPD, if I got PPD I'd get a Chinese doctor to make it into pills so I could consume it that way- a lot more palatable!

Luckily avoided PPD, so I want to plant it with a tree. Thing is, we have a communal back garden, we wont be living here forever (I hope) and I want her to be able to visit her tree so I'm still deciding where to put it!

ghosty · 29/11/2006 04:25

[vomit]

Seriously though, in NZ you are asked very seriously if you would like to keep it because Maori culture has very strict rules about body parts ....
I met a well known rugby league player (maori) who lost a leg in a terrible motorbike accident ... He told me he kept his leg in the freezer for a few months and then it was buried at a family funeral in the same grave as the deceased family member .... with all sorts of rituals attached.

But no, I didn't keep either of my children's placentas

eidsvold · 29/11/2006 05:45

did not keep either - but both were c-sections.

Dd1 placenta was very manky so no point in it.

[vomiting along with ghosty - weak stomach when it comes to things like this]

jabberwocky · 29/11/2006 06:35

We planted a tree over ds1's. It was a lovely little ceremony.

Ds2's had to go to pathology so we couldn't do the same with it

ghosty · 29/11/2006 06:59

Oh my goodness, jabbawocky ... did you have your baby then????? How did I miss that? All ok?
Congratulations!

throckenholt · 29/11/2006 07:45

DS1's placenta went into MIL's freezer - she was a lab technician at a senior school - I think they used it in A-level biology.

DS2/3 - id twins - theirs was sent of for "analysis" - not sure what they analysed - we never got any feedback. I did get a good look at it though - it was fascinating - one twin had only had 1/3 of the placenta - you could see all the veins etc spreading out like a tree.

pompeyld · 29/11/2006 07:55

At one of my birthing classes the midwife said that some people don't have the cord cut...they have something called a 'lotus' and leave the placenta attached to the baby and just carry it around until the cord comes off naturally! In the next breath she said that the cord is basically rotting skin so this doesn't sound pleasant at all! (Sorry to anyone having breakfast now!)

pesme · 29/11/2006 08:11

ah, the lotus bag! i couldn't remember what it was, and it is even grosser than i remember.

Trinityrhino · 29/11/2006 08:15

tbh the thought of keeping the placenta doesn't gross e out but I personally don't feel the need. dh did have a very close look at dd2's and was discussing it with the midwife and said it was amazing but I felt that, wonderful as it was, that it had done it's job

as for a lotus bag, hmmm not my thing

sfxmum · 29/11/2006 08:53

i did not keep, it had to be removed in theatre and i asked to have a look at it which i did in detail with the midwife.

Original poster

redbeki · 29/11/2006 11:05

dizietsma,we got dwarf trees,in huge pots,coz we move a lot,that way,you can take them with you!

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Original poster

redbeki · 29/11/2006 11:07

yeah,the tree of life

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LadyOfThePoinsettias · 29/11/2006 11:10

i had a good look at both of them to the shock of the midwives- i think it's amazing and very interesting. i wanted to see what had 'fed' my boys on the inside. they looked pretty gross so after i'd looked they took them away.

KathyMCMLXXII · 29/11/2006 11:13

I asked to look at mine - was surprised by how sort of structured it looked - I'd been imagining it as a sort of shapeless blob.

Am threatening DH with turning the next one into pate, but only if ds arrives on time because apparently they go all gritty and calcified if the baby is late.

madmarchhare · 29/11/2006 11:16

I asked to look at mine but they thought I was talking rubbish because of the gas and air (admittedly I had been) but I really meant it.

Cant say Im that bothered and certainly wouldnt have wanted to keep it.

jabberwocky · 29/11/2006 11:57

Hey, ghosty! Actually, I only announced it on the ante-natal thread so far Things came about a bit early and I didn't have the wherewithall to do a proper birth story bit yet.

jabber scurries off to start thread...

lulumama · 29/11/2006 12:50

lotus birth

and

placenta essence

Original poster

redbeki · 29/11/2006 20:56

wow,the lotus.never heard of that before,how long does it take to fall off naturally?how do you go to the loo?is it days-bizarre.

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lulumama · 29/11/2006 21:49

not sure...heard about it on the doula training course i did...but don;t have RL expereince of it.....! fascinating , no?

i imagine a similar amount of time that the stump would fall off...if the cord had been cut at birth....

Mercy · 29/11/2006 21:59

No, but it was interesting having a quick look at it. I was surprised at how big they are. Isn't it the only extra organ that can be grown?

Many years ago when home births were common place the placenta was partially buried in the back garden and then burned (according to my mum that is) Apparently that's what happened to my brother's placenta and my mum said you could tell a baby had been born in the neighbourhood because of the burning smell at odd times of the day.

Practicalpet · 30/11/2006 12:40

I offered to make a pate for xmas day but no-one took me up on the offer so the midwife disposed of it.

Original poster

redbeki · 30/11/2006 13:23

never heard the burning one,thats interesting.I heard they used to sell them to cosmetic companies to make lipsticks out of?! ergh

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Original poster

redbeki · 30/11/2006 13:24

a friend of mine ate hers,she said it was like mushrooms,not meaty at all,she 's veggie too!

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