Even though the placenta is often poo poo’d as not important by so many, for the rest of us the process surrounding the dignity and reverence of such a great life giving organ is important.
I was lucky enough to be invited along to a special ceremony to celebrate the placenta and return it to the earth.
The following was first presented at NZ National Conference 2002, and was printed in the NZ College of Midwives journal 28, April 2003. Whenua is the Maori word for placenta. Some midwives give a copy of this to the women who choose to keep their placenta to bury or honour in other ways.
Whenua
At the beginning of your world, I was part of you. Made of the same luminous fabric, flesh of your flesh, of our father and mother’s being. As we grew, we were separated but united. I fed you, breathed for you, became a pathway for the flushing currents of our mother’s blood. As you slept, I was your cradle and your guard; when you awoke I was your companion. Together for that last day I leashed you to the very limits of our linking line.
Before releasing you to the touch of others – lovers, yes – but surely none will hold you as nearly, as sweetly or as softly as I did. As our connection was severed you cried aloud, then were gone.
Carry me deep in your heart as you bury me in the soil of our home.
For I am the earth of your making.
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That was lovely.
That is beautiful thank you for sharing
i got all teary looking at these pics, must still be a bit hormone whacky! my other thought was if its the mum in the pics, then how the hell is she managing to squat so soon after birth, maybe thats what was bringing tears to my eyes! over identification…
It was quite a long time after the birth Kel!!
The word Whenua also means earth or land in Maori. It was so lovely working in NZ, where the placenta was (generally) given much more respect, which it deserves!!
oh yeah..i forgot about modern tings like freezers!
I have 4 placenta’s, my Grandchildren’s, buried in my garden. Son and DIL are having a baby next month and have asked me to bury their baby’s as well. My response? Thank you
I got a bit teary reading the maori blessing, and i’m not pregnant.. i think its amazing. I am considering having a large pot in which to plant a small tree in, using the placenta as food for it, when A gives birth to our 2nd baby in March. if we owned our house i would bury the placenta outside, but cause we dont i want to be able to take the tree or plant with us when we move.
When I lived in NZ I gathered that the Maori bury the placenta at their tribe’s marae, or meeting house, which means the child always belongs there. Modern Maori tend to plant it in a pot plant. When I had my first child we were in a rented house and the midwife dissuaded me, saying that in the uk foxes may dig it up. So they took it away but I still have to this day pot plants for each of my children, chosen to be flowering on their birthday, and photos have been taken annually to compare the child’s height with her plant! When they grow up I’d like to give them cuttings to keep. Incidentally, our mothers also still have the Rose bushes that we presented at our wedding, and we get annual photos of their glorious flowers! I am definitely keen on the idea of prints of the placenta, which I hadn’t heard of before.