Mayan people's religious tradition roots them to the earth at the moment of birth. When a Mayan child is born, the placenta is buried in the ground as a religious ritual. This place holds special meaning for the Maya; it is where the individual is symbolically “planted” in the ground to root his or her Mayan identity.
In both Japanese and Chinese culture, the placenta burial is believed to bestow blessings or protection for the child's future.
The Hmong people of South Asia believe that a person has a spiritual connection with his or her placenta throughout life. It is important for the placenta to be buried at home.
It is the bridge between a mother and her baby in the womb, it is unique, amazing and beautiful. By burying the placenta it's like giving back to mother earth to let her know that a child has been born, so that mother earth can continue to nurture that Boorai, in particular the spiritual soul of that little person.
Neither the ritual wash nor the shrouding is necessary for these babies. Placental tissue is considered part of the human body and should therefore be buried and not incinerated as presently happens in the United Kingdom.
After the placenta is delivered, the cord is cut and an herbal oil, face powder, or ash mixture is rubbed on the cut section. The placenta is buried near the home, or in some communities burned. Nine days after birth, a ceremony is conducted at the placental burial site to announce the name of the baby.
Some Christians believe the placenta should be buried while others believe it should be burnt. The placenta is regarded as the beginning of life among the Yorubas of South-West Nigeria, and it must be maintained for the safety and security of the child and its future.
In Maori tradition, the whenua (placenta) is buried in an ipu whenua, a purpose-made vessel. The ipu whenua might be made from clay, a dried gourd, or kete.
In Central India, women of the Kol Tribe eat placenta to aid reproductive function. It is believed that consumption of placenta by a childless woman "may dispel the influences that keep her barren".
Ceremonies can play an important role during this time, which can be calming and centering. Aboriginal peoples from all over incorporate some type of rituals and ceremonies into labour and birth. Smudging, drumming, singing, and bathing are some things that can be part of labour and birth.
The cord blood? These are contemporary questions with ancient Jewish solutions. The Jewish Pregnancy Book says that, according to the Talmud, the placenta should be preserved in a bowl with oil, straw, or sand and buried in the earth a few days after the baby's birth to symbolize the cycle of life.
Qin Shihuang, the first emperor of a unified China, is said to have designated placenta as having health properties some 2,200 years ago, and during China's last dynasty, the dowager empress Cixi was said to have eaten it to stay young.
Ezekiel 16:1-6. In this passage, God was speaking to the children of Israel that when they were born, their umbilical cord (placenta) was not properly treated and because of this they needed help. They were essentially living in the land of the dead and nobody pitied them.
“From the earth We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We will extract you another time.” Some Muslim scholars encourage us to bury our newborn baby's placenta and umbilical cord after their birth.
Request to take the placenta home
It is not uncommon for people to bring their baby's placenta home, bury it in the garden and plant a tree above it. You have the right to take your placenta home – speak to your midwife about the policy and how the hospital will support you.
The burial of the placenta and umbilical cord is thought to restore the woman's fertility and help heal her womb.
Placenta eating may be controversial with doctors, but many celebrity moms have been all over the trend, from Kailyn Lowry to Alicia Silverstone. “Someone gifted me my placenta in the form of a pill,” the Clueless star wrote in her Kind Mama book, which was published in April 2014. “They encapsulate it.
Kourtney Kardashian has eaten her placenta from when she gave birth to her third child, as has Kim Kardashian with her second, Saint. Both sisters had their placentas encapsulated, which Khloé has also said she wants to do.
Many new mothers choose to take their placentas home and eat them, Huang said. It is common that Chinese people, especially the elders, eat human placentas, which they believe are rich in nutrients and is good for their health, several mothers said to the Global Times on Monday.
In Samoa, the placenta is usually expelled by pulling, while the abdomen is massaged. Sometimes the father is asked to apply force to facilitate expulsion.
Tikanga for not cutting your hair while hapu is thought that you shouldn't cut your hair to ensure your unborn child will be able to receive your energy and strength to aid in the growth of the baby.
The placenta, or whenua, is very sacred in the Māori culture and it is custom for it to be buried at a place of cultural significance or on ancestral land, as the Māori people believe that humans came from the Earth mother Papatūānuku, so returning the whenua to the land is a sign of respect and thanks.
In Eno's home country of Nigeria, generations of parents have buried the placentas of their newborns next to the seeds of trees and even tended those trees in the hope their children would thrive along with the plants.
A placenta provides a perfect environment for germs to grow, which can be a threat to your health and the health of other people around you.
Do Hospitals Keep Placentas? Hospitals treat placentas as medical waste or biohazard material. The newborn placenta is placed in a biohazard bag for storage. Some hospitals keep the placenta for a period of time in case the need arises to send it to pathology for further analysis.