Wow. I don't even know what to think about this. I had never even heard of new moms eating their placentas. But I do think the hospital should have discussed this with her before they moved it, especially considering that the doctor was on board with it. I guess I agree with Tracie...she should have brought a cooler with her! Interesting topic.

Yes, it is I... the placenta eater here. Thank you all so much for your support. If I had not just had my third child I would have taken this much further legally. Fiona, the nurse who tended to us post partum though me accomplishing natural childbirth was stupid and she bitterly told me so. The Dr was very supportive of me eating my placenta and put it in the correct container. The nurse went to fill my mini fridge with juice and tucks pads, and that's when she took it. I told the staff that in my Native American culture that I needed it...it is a part of ME. Still, they thought I was disgusting. no excuses here and I'm still hurting over it. It really does feel like they stole a piece of me...no pun intended.

Hospital policy/doctors orders requiring that EVERY placenta be examined by a pathologist is yet another example of a CYA, defensive medicine practice, that serves only to make childbirth more expensive. Physicians & midwives are supposed to be well trained in the examination of placentas & umbilical cords. (It's completely understandable to send a calcified or malformed placenta to the path lab for further examination--but standing orders for all is excessive & unnecessary.) After my first homebirth, I transferred to our local hospital due to a retained placenta. Midwifery licensing regulations limit this type of complication out of the scope of practice for our state's homebirth midwives. My backup physician met myself, my husband, & primary midwife on the L&D floor for the manual extraction. After my physician & midwife had fully examined my healthy placenta, I requested that it be bagged up for us to take home. My nurse looked at me like I had a 3rd eye, but b/c my midwife, physician, & husband were present (and returning the "hairy eyeball") she complied. It was wrapped in clean chux pads, placed in a personal property bag, & handed over w/ slight grimace. My husband took the securely packaged placenta to his car & placed it in a small cooler. A preterm birth is traumatic enough without the additional annoyance of hospital staff not respecting mom's wishes. Complete BS.

I will admit I have not read the other comments, so I sorry if I repeat anything! In several cultures the placenta is considered to be a part of the baby AND the mother and therefor needs to be burried or otherwise properly disposed of in order to keep the spirit in tact (or something along those lines). When a friend on mine rushed off to New Zealand to be by the side of her sister who had been in a serious accident she was handed a bag containing her sister's tooth and hair that she had lost because of the accident. After staring at the bag blankly for several moments it was explained to them that they are to take that, and bury it as per their culture. And so they did. So I think it is completely disrespectful for the hospital to take posession of something that is legitimately a part of her and her child. I would be beyond pissed and would be tempted to fight this matter legally. Though her placenta may be lost, other's may be spared for these efforts. I am debating eating my placenta. I joke that I will do it (my friends are paranoid to eat over after I give birth for fear of being fed placenta pizza). Whether I choose to or not, I want something special to happen to this important part of my child. If I don't eat it I want to either bury it under a tree or make capsules. Therefor, I want to be able to maintain posesssion of MY placenta!

Of course they shouldn't have done that! It's not like she was a million miles away. Very simply: it was her property, and no one should have messed with it. As if an hour more in that fridge would have made it more biohazardous. And if they did not want her to have it in the hospital, they could have asked her to remove it herself. It's the lack of choice and communication that was very wrong, I think.

Actually, Fiona, what you said is very helpful. If it's the standard operating procedure to take the placenta and have it examined, it is valuable information to have. I AM curious as to why it is examined. What benefit does examination offer the patient post-delivery??

Ok. I don't want to be the devil's advocate nor do I want any of you fine women to hunt me down for blood...but, I'm a labor and delivery nurse and we really don't have much power. We simply follow orders. That being said at the facility where I work every placenta is taken to the path lab for a full exam, as ordered by every dr. We have a special pathologist whose only job is to look at those placentas. I don't know what I could do other than advocate for the patient in that situation and express her desire to nibble on her morsel. Then it's out of my hands. So, I'm sorry your friend didn't get to dine on her placenta, but please don't shoot the messenger.

Wouldn't be able to do it. I was throwing up on my keyboard (a little bit). Even if I could do it, though, it definitely wouldn't be worth 400 dollars. I could think of much more creative ways to use that money! xoxo

All your previous commenters made excellent points. Since this was perhaps a rushed birthing experience, perhaps the cooler was forgotten. Or, perhaps your friend forgot to bring it. Or, perhaps the nurse had a power trip. I guess I'm feeling for your friend the most because she feels so powerless...first with the less-than-orgasmic birth experience, than with a potential NICU situation (something I've lived), and then to lose the placenta to boot. The loss of power/autonomy is super challenging. I hope motherhood is bringing her most empowerment. I love your blogging. LOVE. IT.

No, I do not think that was right for the hospital to do that. While I doubt that I would eat my placenta if I were to give birth again, i have to admit that there's probably something to this placenta eating from everything I've heard. It's seems pretty indicative of our culture in general that they sent it to a FUNERAL HOME of all places. We're just generally f***ed up as a society and pretty much miss the mark on everything. What's more - she sure as hell shouldn't have had to pay THEM $400! I'd be pissed as hell! This made me gag: "The flavor was not overwhelming and the texture was like scrambled eggs." And this made me laugh: "you might be able to reunite with your placenta, if you so desire. " Great post - I always enjoy detailed discussion of placenta-eating. For reals. It's kind of an interest of mine.

The hospital really should have waited until she returned from seeing her baby before removing the placenta from her fridge. Or at least given her the opportunity to discuss her options before taking it away. Thanks for following my blog - I am following you now, too! I love your blog as well. Very funny and entertaining! I saw that you have a MFA in Creative Writing. I was accepted into our university's MFA program for Creative Writing in Poetry, but I declined and had a baby instead. Oh, putting your dreams on hold for motherhood! Worth it? Yes, totally! Can't wait to read more about you! And hey, I want to see a picture of that hot dog octopus. Maybe I can get my son to eat one that way!

i think a couple of your previous commentators made good points, but i think the most important thing to conside here is that she knew in advance that she wanted her placenta, and didn't ask beforehand the policy. in a large metropolitan area, it's easier to find a hospital that will accomidate your "eccentricities." that being said, i do realize that this was not the initial plan, the birthing center sh was planning on was probably well equipped and prepared for this (and that was her plan), but if it was that important to her,maybe she should have made more alternative plans? and maybe this is just one more lesson for the rest of us... there's no way to plan for every contingency. one last thing, i'd be absolutely furious at the hospital, especially if i were hormonal after giving birth, and i'd probably think about filing a complaint too. but i probably wouldn't in the end... "GRRR!" in behalf of mothers everywhere that can't get what they want!

The fridge cleaning protocol is probably based on the contents food and beverages rather than human tissue full of blood and other bodily fluids. So I think the nurses gave her the same amount of consideration that she herself afforded the people who would be using the facility after her. Humans are imperfect, they spill things, they do not clean up as well as perhaps they should, they may not realize that once the visible mess is gone there are sometimes other less visible hangers on that are still lurking. That is not something you can just turn a blind eye to in a facility aimed at treating people when they are potentially at their most medically vulnerable.

I'm with the other commenters...totally offensive of the hospital to pull that b.s. Yes, she should have thought of cooler, but she had other things to think about. I know where I live you make prearrangements with placenta companies to have your placenta dried or made into capsules or whatever you want (I'm not being facetious; I've had friends make theirs into supplements) but of all the things I've done while nesting, contracting a company to come pick up my placenta to dry and package it isn't at the top of the list. The biohazard bullshit pisses me off when the dentist refuses to give you wisdom teeth, when surgeons can't hand over your gallstones, and when nasty bitch nurses steal your placenta. That's just rude.

Since placenta eating is not your mainstream, common event (no matter how common it may be among the circle of friends within a birthing community), it would probably have been a good idea to have been very open about it with both the doctors & nurses ahead of time. Had she stated clearly from the beginning her intentions, then she might have found out what she could/couldn't do (use the hospital fridge or not) & then know to bring a cooler, get a "waiver" or whatever to protect her right to eat the placenta. Hospitals are more concerned about liability than rights & this would be a situation they may not have policy on. I don't think it was right for the nurse to discard the placenta without asking her first, but we all know that if you want to exercise your rights in a hospital, you have to be your own advocate, know the rules and CYA. That's just the way it is.

I'm am lividly angry for her!! Sounds like a nurse got icked out and went on a power trip. People can be so snotty. Someone was probably just waiting for an opportunity to come in and "confiscate" it and save her from herself! I'm going to stop before I go on a tirade.....grrr.... Nevermind, tirade continues: Whether or not they agreed with her choice it was still her INCREDIBLY personal property and they had no right to take it. It was okayed by her physician and if it was being stored refrigerated and wrapped so that it was not leaking any fluids, then it was a hazard to no one. I'd be more concerned about picking up some antibiotic resistant bacteria or meningitis from the hospital's so-called "sterile" and by default "non-biohazadardous" facility that the head nurse is in charge of! Bottom line, red tape was used to punish your friend for her "wierdness" and it is deplorable that she was robbed of such a unique and one-time only experience by a closed minded twit with a title.

I'm am lividly angry for her!! Sounds like a nurse got icked out and went on a power trip. People can be so snotty. Someone was probably just waiting for an opportunity to come in and "confiscate" it and save her from herself! I'm going to stop before I go on a tirade.....grrr....

I guess they should have brought a cooler with them to the hospital.

Um... gosh. While it's not something I was interested in post birth, I respect that she felt strongly about it, and found it to be restoring. As for the hospital, my guess is that it's all about regulations - and if someone had come across the placenta in the fridge and been in a litigious frame of mind, the hospital could very well have been sued (you can imagine the headlines - new mom goes to retrieve scrambled eggs, only to find she's eaten another woman's placenta...). So, okay. No eggs for me today! Peryl

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