# Placenta question (I'm sure it'll be TMI!)... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placenta-question-im-sure-itll-be-tmi/324732 "2005-10-04T14:33:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placenta-question-im-sure-itll-be-tmi/324732/21 "2005-10-06T11:26:19Z")
> [@MaryEFoo](#): > > But why would the hospitals ask to keep it? To be sure whether the parents want it or not (so they can discard it)? or some other reason? Saves on the meat budget in the hospital cafeteria. ---
**Author:** ![Hokkaido\_Brit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d26b3c/32.png) [@Hokkaido\_Brit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hokkaido_Brit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placenta-question-im-sure-itll-be-tmi/324732/22 "2005-10-06T12:12:44Z")
That picture of the placenta fascinated me - my first kid was a cesarean delivery because he has a huge head and me a narrow pelvis, and he was also lying crooked with his neck bent. I never thought about asking to look at the placenta till it was too late. First I was too nervous and then I was too interested in babe. The second time I had placenta previa and was told that I had a fetal vein and a maternal artery (or the other way round - can’t remember now!) running right over the cervix. I had a general and was too sick to see the baby for a couple of days, let alone the placenta, though I did kind of wish I could have had a look at what caused me all that trouble/kept the baby alive. Up until today I have had no clear mental image of the size that of the veins/arteries. I have seen placenta pictures before but none that showed the HUGE blood vessels. EEEEK! Five years in retrospect! ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placenta-question-im-sure-itll-be-tmi/324732/23 "2005-10-06T13:35:08Z")
> [@norinew](#): > > Saves on the meat budget in the hospital cafeteria. Ew! I’ve been a patient at Cumberland Memorial! ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placenta-question-im-sure-itll-be-tmi/324732/24 "2005-10-06T13:50:12Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > The original Saturday Night Live cast wrote up a skit about “Placenta Helper.” The script is in an old SNL script book (I’m not sure if it’s still in print), and it’s absolutely hilarious. Honey, can we have Placenta Helper every night? ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placenta-question-im-sure-itll-be-tmi/324732/25 "2005-10-06T14:05:19Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Ew! I’ve been a patient at Cumberland Memorial! If you ordered the vegetarian dishes, you have nothing to worry about. But if not, well, you might consider applying for a spot on Fear Factor. I mean, once you’ve had placenta, how bad could cockroaches be, right? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placenta-question-im-sure-itll-be-tmi/324732/26 "2005-10-06T14:19:22Z")
> [@McDeath\_the\_Mad](#): > > **Stainz** and I are just a few weeks away from being happy parents. We are going to do a birth plan for when we are at the hospital. > > We looked at a few sample plans, and 3 or 4 of them requested to keep the placenta after the birth. > > Why is this? What would you do with it? Some cultures have rituals involving the placenta in which it is not eaten. I know the Hmong traditionally bury it under the house. The book **The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down** talks about how once some OBs and nurses found out about this tradition, they started saving the placenta in a plastic bag so the family could take it home. ---
**Author:** ![Stainz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Stainz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stainz)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placenta-question-im-sure-itll-be-tmi/324732/27 "2005-10-06T18:14:29Z")
Apparently MANY cultures see the placenta as something very sacred, as it represents an actual as well as spiritual connection between a mother and the baby. In these cultures the placenta is often cooked and served up to people who are important to that new baby’s life, and it is considered an honour to be invited. Other cultures / families, as **easy e** stated, will bury it and then plant a tree or shrub over it. Some people will create art with it - paint it and use it to make an impression on a canvas. (We had a prenatal class the other night and I asked the instructor). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/placenta-question-im-sure-itll-be-tmi/324732.md?page=1)