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Cincinnati Babies
here's a question... taking home your placenta?
So.. um.. I have a question for a friend. I swear it's not me, I wish I was pregnant but, I'm not.
Anyway. My friend is wondering if anyone has had any luck at any hospital in the tri-state area, with being allowed to take your placenta home. Or, does anybody know someone who did or just know anything about it in general.
I mean, it seems like a no brainer, it's yours, why shouldn't you be able to (if you're into that sort of thing) but, I guess most places see it differently?
Anybody? Anything?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: here's a question... taking home your placenta?
Jennie
It is allowed, at least I'm assuming so because my midwife friend and I have discussed it (I wasn't asking about it for myself, just discussing the topic in general) and she had said she considered keeping hers (and she delivered in the same hospital where she had worked, which is where I delivered also) so if she considered keeping it, that would have to mean it is allowed, right? I believe she also said she knows people who have done it, but I don't know if she was referring to patients of hers at that hospital or just people she knows of. The only person I know of who has actually kept and done something with their placenta had a homebirth, but I do believe it is allowed regardless. Anyhow, I've googled it and have read a lot about it, so I know it has definitely been done.
My girlfriend (who lives here in Cincinnati) had a home water tub birth 4 weeks ago. She planted?/buried? her placenta with a new tree over the spot in their yard.
Of course since she had a home birth she was allowed to do whatever she wanted to with her placenta.
I donated my placenta to a Children's Hospital medical study. A nurse came into my room (even before I got to go see Nolan in the NICU) asking for it - they are doing a study on premature births & seeing if there is some kind of correlation between them & a infection (I forget the exact name) that you can have in your in your bag of water & not know about/no symptoms. I felt good knowing that it was going "somewhere" for a good thing & not just being destroyed or sold to a cosmetics company.
My friend's OB told her St. E wouldn't allow her to take it (something about medical waste). The OB didn't seem to think it was weird but blamed it on hospital policy. She hasn't been able to get a hold of anyone at the hospital yet about it (this all just happened today and she's waiting on calls back).
I posted a personal story a couple months ago about being surprised with my gallbladder in a container to take home from Good Sam. Yippee!
I don't see why a placenta would be any different.
Honest, I thought of you, immediately, when I read Hannah's question. HA!
Honestly, it's really intriguing to me--it's supposed to really help with post-partum bleeding, PPD, energy, etc.
Since you asked, I just have to share this story. And if I didn't know the people personally, I doubt I would believe it was true.
DH's cousin had a home birth (they live in Virginia). Well she saved the placenta which doesn't surprise me at all as they are very earthy, live on a farm, etc. I guess they put the placenta in the freezer, in their basement. I'm not sure exactly what they planned to do with it but I think they were going to plant it. So fast forward a couple months after the birth. Their house was broken into and the thieves took the keg of beer in the basement fridge and...you guessed it, the placenta. Her post on FB relaying the story was pretty funny...they had to tell the cops what was taken and she wished the thief a nice dinner of beer...and placenta. Ew. I mean seriously, what did this person think they were stealing and what did they do with it?!
Me too. I was hoping someone would have the answer to this because I have thought about it with my next one. I had PPD really bad and would try just about anything to avoid it.