Lost placenta

Here I just wanted to share with you one message and its thread found this week on a forum I am a member of (Beijing Mamas).

In Beijing, we, expats, are having no shortage of information. Not only do we have several free entertainment magazines  (Beijing Kids, City Weekend, the Beijinger, Agenda, City Weekend Parents, and more), we are also blessed with several forums. Beijing Mamas is only one of many; Beijing café for all sorts of practical things, Boca for green living, Beijing_homeschoolers, Beijing gluten-free group, Beijing Mamas for mom/kids related issues of course, and many others more specific ones. They are, for expats who share similar concerns and values, a way to connect, share and exchange. In a city of 16 million, where the language makes us all illiterates, where we are stuck because of the endemic traffic, where the stores landscape changes faster than FedEx can delivered to you, where new complexes are sprouting like mushrooms and entire areas are erased without much warning, where danger roams in the form of baby powder milk or detergent, these are our tools to stay afloat, to survive and thrive... Without Beijing café, simple questions are answered: where to buy pair of kids shoes? which pediatrician to choose from? why is it impossible to retrieve cash from my Chinese ATM today? what is the standard regarding nanny salaries? where is the best sushi in town? where to do painting classes? Trivial and not so trivial issues are shared, discussed, explained, detailed...

So here is the thread in question, an hilarious example of what cultural brassage can bring you in your inbox, or in our case, in our garden... 

----- Forwarded Message ----

                                       (BeijingCafe) Lost Placenta in Central Park??

From: ratomme

To: Beijingcafe@...com

Sent: Fri, 15 October, 2010 8:27:56

Subject: (BeijingCafe) Lost Placenta in Central Park??

I apologize beforehand to those who are fainthearted:

For the happy lady who just had a baby and lives in Central Park and

had burried fresh placenta with imbilical cord in clear plastic bag under a

tree on the hill-your placenta is lying around next to shallow hole, looks

like dogs dug it out (at least I hope it was dogs!)

I think it mist befrom an expat -Chinese would not throw it away.

Re: Fw: (BeijingCafe) Lost Placenta in Central Park??

Posted by: "Diane" dandan622@...   

Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:35 am (PDT)

IMO, if I were the lady, I could only thank the person who posted the

original msg, as I am now acknowledged of the fact and can make my choice

what to do with it(whether to go back to rebury it or not) as it's a

PLACENTA we're talking about...

Anyways, when I had my baby at BJU, my placenta was given to my family since

my husband's mom who's a Chinese, asked for it and then when I asked what

they did with it, my MIL said she's given it to ayi and buried in the

backyard but wouldn't tell me exactly where. I thought that was weird.

Diane

--- In Beijing_Mamas@...groups.com, Roberta 

wrote:

When I lived in Sanya a friend of mine from Canada gave birth in a local

hospital. She was not asked whether she wanted to keep the placenta or not

but to her dismay the same evening a nurse brought a soup to her made with

her placenta! She was told that it is a typical Chinese thing to do since it

is said that for a mom to eat her own placenta after giving birth gives her

strength and keeps her healthy. I find it quite gruesome to say the least.

Anyways, I gave birth the first time in Shanghai and the second time in

Kuala Lumpur. Never was I asked if I wanted to take the placentas home with

me. I mean... what is the point of bringing it home? And I really don't

understand why the 1st message was posted on Beijing Cafe'... if someone did

in fact bury her placenta in Central Park, well that's her business I guess.

Did someone think that this lady would go back to the park and look for it

to then throw it in a garbage can?

I don't see the point in all this...

To: Beijing_Mamas@...groups.com

From: chinees_spookstje@...

Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2010 06:49:31 +0000

Subject: Re: [BJMamas] Fw: (BeijingCafe) Lost Placenta in Central Park??

When I gave birth at Amcare earlier this year, the medical staff asked us

if we wanted to take the placenta home with us or not. Actually, they asked

both of us seperately: they asked me while they were prepping me for the

(emergency) c-section and my husband while he was scrubbing in. After we

both declined, they showed the placenta to my husband after birth and showed

him how they would dispose of it.

Later on, I inquired about this question in the hospital and the nurses

told me that many Chinese take the placenta home with them. Didn't ask what

they do with it though... I just thought it was a bit odd...

Ciska

--- In Beijing_Mamas@...groups.com, "lioracc" wrote:

i do not know local or expat hospital policy but I would think it most

unusual for them to release a placenta from a hospital.

Among home birthers in the U.S., and perhaps some Birthing Centers there

is a portion (just a few percent) who choose to do a "lotus birth", that is,

keep the placenta connected for several days till the cord falls off

naturally. They keep the placenta connected to the baby, place the placenta

and most of the cord inside plastic, and in a nice velvet bag or something,

until the end of the cord separates naturally from the belly.

The thinking is that there is a spiritual connection with the baby, and

that after 9 months together it is gentler to take the time to separate.

Liora