The placenta

DISCLAIMER: If you are vegetarian or your stomach can easily get spoiled you may not want to read this story, otherwise you will get stomach-ache. If you don't have either of these conditions, you may still get dizzy. I shall not be liable for any of the above mentioned conditions.

When I was eating Mathijs' steak & kidney pie today, I realised that I haven't even told this story yet. ...So, I read it in my Active Birth book that the placenta could be eaten. One can make a nice stew of it with some mushrooms and red wine. So, when the plancenta was born, we saved it and froze it for further use. Laura, our midwife, was totally groovy and understandable; she gave us even more ideas what we could do with it. Before freezing, she came to me with the placenta and showed me what it looked like and explained how it worked during the pregnancy. She compared it to a flower; actually it looked like a sunflower with the thick umbilical cord. Laura talked so positive and respectful about the placenta. She seemed to enjoy what she was doing.

We were a bit reluctant for a while and one day we defrosted my, or rather Timur's placenta and Mathijs (he is the chef in the house) made a nice stew with champignons and some Chianti. The placenta tastes and has the consistency of liver. It was a strange feeling to eat something that my body created. Well, some people eat their skin, nails, drink blood, or eat from the nose..., so, what's wrong with eating the placenta. In some countries it is given to dogs, at most places it is just wasted, but I'm sure cultures more close to nature are much more creative with it.

If anyone has an interesting story about plancenta, I look forward to hearing/reading it.