Why I show everyone pictures of my placenta...and other cool stuff you can do with your placenta
- mountainbirthing
- Mar 29, 2023
- 3 min read
Our bodies make whole worlds. Human beings with brains, a whole network of functioning organs and those wonderful eyes that we can get lost in. BUT...we often forget all the other essential gubbins that our bodies make in order for this new life to thrive.
If you need any further proof of how wonderfully incredible the birthing body is... then the placenta is where you'll find it. The placenta is the organ that you grow specifically to support your baby's life whilst they are in your uterus (or womb). Yes...you don't just grow a baby (which is amazing on its own)... you grow an entire new organ too. The placenta provides nutrients through the umbilical cord to baby providing all of the food, oxygen and blood that they need to grow. It also removes waste from the baby.
It's very easy to forget, overlook or to not actually be aware that as well as a baby we also birth a placenta. It's certainly something that birth partners are often unprepared for!
How often do you grow a fresh organ? It's pretty impressive.
In my view it's an absolute necessity to take a good old look at your placenta when it arrives earthside (if you are able to of course). To give it the respect and awe that it desrves and to thank it (and mainly yourself) for sustaining your loved one for your pregnancy.
You can ask your healthcare provider to show you all the elements of your placenta. When I had my first the midwife was wonderful, she held it up and showed us where Ivy was attached and which way round everything went! There's something really powerful about seeing where your baby has been living...and the whole organ you made. Equally to have birthed something that you've not seen or explored can seem rather strange and I feel I would have been weirded out not knowing what came out of me!
My husband also took photos for me so I could take a look later when I was less high on birth hormones... and show off to everyone.
The awe that I developed for birthing bodies through my first pregnancy is quite overwhelming. I simply did not understand the human body as much as I thought I did and wanted to shout from the rooftops with an equal mix of wonder and rage at the patriarchy. Using my placenta as a talking point, to share this awe with others I found cathartic. A lot of people have met newborns and small babies, but we don't often relate this to how incredible the body is that created this new person for us to enjoy.
For me, the placenta is evidence of the remarkable journey our bodies go on in pregnancy, what we give, what we sacrifice and what we create. We say goodbye to our placenta and thank it for its service whilst welcoming a human that we will cherish forever.
As well as keeping photos of your placenta there are a number of other cool ways you can pay respect to this shared part of you and your baby.
make a placenta print to hang on your wall (or stash with your baby things if this feels too much) - there are organisations that will do this for you
hire a company to turn it into capsules for you to take as a supplement - the placenta is still full of incredible nutrients - evidence is mixed so do your research
eat it (yes this is a thing) - either there and then or cook it up later
keep it attached to your baby until it naturally falls off (called a lotus birth and can take 5 to 15 days)
bury it in your garden - you could find a special place under a tree and give your organ a burial!
There are even more ideas out there so get creative! Whatever you chose, like all birth choices do ensure that you have made your desires clear in your birth plan and to your birth partner. I'd hate for you to have detailed plans and find out later it's gone to the incinerator!
Want to know more weird and wonderful things about your birthing body? Follow me on Instagram and check out my full antenatal and hypnobirthing courses on my website.
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