Jennifer Liss had her second kid at home, in Oakland:
"What would you like to do with the placenta?" the midwife asked.You'll never guess what happened next. OK, I'll tell you. They circumcised the kid and put his foreskin in the freezer, too. Now you'll really never guess what happened next!"You can take it," I said, staring at my son's perfect, perfect face.
"Oh, no, it's yours," she said.
How, in our many months of preparation, had we somehow neglected to discuss the matter of the placenta? The midwife explained that it would be unwise to throw it in the garbage--raccoons--and just as unwise to bury it in the garden. Raccoons again. Go up into the hills, she advised. Dig a deep, deep hole. Bury it there.
Hiking wasn't in my near future. So, into the freezer the placenta went.
After Birth [themorningnews]
