Yep, you read that right – I planted my placenta! I grew an organ that gave Stella life; and now, it’s continuing to give life to a beautiful olive tree for years to come!
Did you know the placenta is the only disposable/temporary organ your body creates? While pregnant, it seemed almost disrespectful to just toss an organ that created such a miracle – our baby girl! I knew I wanted to preserve this life-giving blob of tissue and vasculature, I just wasn’t sure how.
I had read a few articles about encapsulating your placenta, and the potential benefits of ingesting all those nutrients (like iron and vitamin K) after losing blood during birth. Other studies showed decreased incidences of postpartum hemorrhage, regulated BP, and PPA/PPD related with ingesting your placenta. On the flip side, I heard several horror stories of women ingesting their placenta, only to become seriously ill later. Not to mention, some encapsulating services cost upwards of $500! My search for how I’d preserve my placenta wasn’t yet finished.
One night at work before going on maternity leave, a sweet coworker (one who’s a little more hippie-dippy than myself) asked if I was going to plant a placenta tree! I had never heard of such a practice, but her idea sparked my interest! I figured with this method of placenta preservation, I could keep my placenta without putting myself, or my baby, in danger; and I could create something that will grow with my little one!
I envision taking annual photos of Stella with her placenta tree on her birthday. How cool to watch her and the tree grow bigger and stronger every year! Even cooler – maybe one day using some of her olive greens in her wedding bouquet (ok…I’m getting ahead of myself 🙂
In this post, I’ll share a How-To Guide for Planting a Placenta Tree for your Baby. There are various methods of going about planting a placenta tree, but this process worked for us!
Write it in your Birth Plan
Once you’ve decided you want to keep your placenta, write it down in your birth plan! And make sure your Birth Team knows! That includes your spouse/partner, your midwife/OB, and any doula or nurse assisting. Verify that the hospital/birth center you’re delivering at, allows placentas to be taken home. While my labor was long, the birth itself was so quick – and I didn’t want my placenta to be tossed as quickly as Stella was tossed onto my chest! Having that conversation ahead of time saved me any potential worry or confusion during the actual birth.
Decide on a Location for your Tree
Will you plant in the ground or in a pot? Will the tree be indoors or outdoors? Shade or sunlight? Tay and I have five olive trees planted in our backyard; and while we own our current home, we know this home isn’t our planned ‘forever home’. It will one day become a rental, or sold to another family; which means our 5 olive trees stay with the home – and don’t come with us 🙁
I love olive trees for so many reasons. They do well in our dry So-Cal climate, they’re affordable and low maintenance, and their leaves are the prettiest gray-green! Plus, the fruitless breed of olive trees we get are called Wilsonii, and thats pretty dang close to our last name – nutty! Naturally, the idea of leaving behind our 5 olive trees when we move one day is such a bummer! Thus came the decision for Stella’s tree to be a potted olive tree! Key word: potted!
If this placenta tree weren’t personalized to Stella enough already, the story behind the terracotta pot we planted it in is special too! The morning I found out I was pregnant, Tay and I were leaving for a wine tasting trip to Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico (wine…pregnant…the timing is ironic, I know) While on that trip, we snagged a sweet deal on some handmade terracotta pots! Our first weekend with Stella’s itty bitty embryo in me – how cool to commemorate it with a pot for her tree! Make sure your pot has a drainage hole if your tree requires frequent watering.
Bring your Placenta Home after Delivery
Labor & Delivery is such a hectic time already, the conversation about keeping your placenta should have already been had. You may have to sign a waiver to bring home your “biohazard” because if not handled properly, there could pose a public health risk. Your midwife/doula/nurse will place your placenta into an opaque plastic container, and then place the container on ice. If you plan on encapsulating, it’s crucial to get it refrigerated or frozen within a few hours of delivery! Our care team knew we were keeping my placenta, but they didn’t know I would be planting a tree with it. They kept frantically replacing the ice underneath it to keep it fresh – until I told them I actually wanted it to decompose. It would later be a natural source of fertilizer! No ice for us.
Upon returning home, we kept the placenta in its plastic container in our garage for about 2 weeks. I don’t have expert advice on the best length of time for decomposition prior to being planted. I have read that some women freeze and thaw at a later, special date, like babe’s 9 months in/9 months out date! But I wanted our tree planted in time for our newborn photos! So 2 weeks worked for us.
Plant your Placenta Tree
We didn’t do a tree planting ceremony, this part wasn’t special at all. Imagine Taylor in head to toe PPE, goggles, mask, gloves; holding my placenta at arms length, transferring it from the plastic container into the terracotta pot. I laugh to myself thinking about how silly that looked.
Layer the contents of your pot from bottom to top as such: soil + placenta + soil + tree + soil. Agitate the placenta with a shovel or sturdy stick to gently mix it in with the soil before putting in the tree. Make sure to cover the placenta and tree with enough soil so an outdoor animal can’t get to it at night!
Water it generously upon planting, and water 2-3x weekly for the first few weeks. Then weekly after that, depending on your trees unique needs. If your tree needs lots of sun like our olive tree, place your pot in a place with sufficient sunlight!
Teach your Child about their Tree
Stella is 3 months old now; and most days, we go outside to visit her tree. I help her touch the leaves; and we talk about the tree’s life-giving placenta inside. In the coming years, I’d love to include her in the maintenance of her tree – helping Daddy water it, and helping Mommy trim the branches for a vase inside.
Future plans for our placenta tree scenario involve a brass placard with Stella’s name on it to sit on the pot. We also envision doing this again for our next baby in a few years. How special for each babe to have their own tree!
Photos throughout this post by Meghan Knight of Meggy Weggy Photography.
