How to Take the Placenta Home

There are many reasons you may want to take your placenta home. You may want something that was a piece of you or there may be religious or cultural reasons. You may want to freeze it, ingest it, plant a tree over it or to make a placenta print as a remembrance of your birth and your baby. If you want to take the placenta home there are some things you will need to do first.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Tupperware container

1. Clear it with your care provider. Some hospitals will not allow you to take the placenta home while others will ask for forms to be filled out.

2. Bring a large Tupperware container with a very tight fitting lid. Placentas are an organ and a messy organ at that. There will be messy fluids (mostly blood) in the placenta that can spill out of a plastic bag.

3. Let your nurse and your birthing team know that you want to take the placenta home so they can save it for you. If you have a birth plan, write it on your birth plan. Remind them that you want to take the placenta home if you have to have a cesarean birth since it's likely to get forgotten during surgery.

4. Accept any odd looks, curious stares or disgusted glances you may get. Few people take the placenta home anymore and many people consider it an unusual request. Sometimes it helps to explain why you want to take the placenta home with your baby.

5. Keep it away from any pets you have. Do not allow your pet to smell it so it can get your baby's scent. Most pets have an instinctual desire to eat the placenta.

6. Store the placenta in a cool place until you can freeze it if you plan on ingesting it.

Resources

• One family's battle to take the placenta home