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The 22nd of April marked exactly 9 months since our little boy was born, so we decided to celebrate by planting his placenta in a special ceremony. It was a beautiful way to acknowledge his birth and pay homage to the miracle of life. This day symbolised the end of a cycle – 9 months he was inside my womb and now 9 months of being out in the world. It felt really magical. To all mamas-to-be I highly recommend thinking about your plans for your placenta and electing to keep it even if you aren’t sure what you want to do with it.
All you need to do is put that preference on your birth plan so it’s in writing and tell your midwife / partner to make sure it isn’t thrown away. If you ask to keep it the midwife will pop it into the hospital fridge in a plastic container after birth and then just be sure you send it home to have your partner or someone freeze it within 2-3 days.
Don’t worry the tubs are white (not see-through) so you won’t have to look at it each time you open the freezer!
The placenta is highly revered in cultures all across the world as a life-giving organ, full of nutrients and an almost mystical power. The role of the placenta is pretty awesome and I feel it deserves some serious respect!
So, you have lots of options for your placenta – you can use it to make capsules or tinctures for yourself (said to help reduce incidence of postnatal depression and aid general recovery), or for your baby (tinctures can be given to babe in times of illness).
You can opt to plant it or you can even create placenta canvas art as a special keepsake!
If you wish to have capsules or tinctures made look into this before hand and speak to a specialist in placenta encapsulation – you usually need to book their services in advance, but you can always freeze it and have capsules made at a later date.
Just be aware that the placenta needs to be refrigerated within 3 hours of the birth otherwise you cannot use it for tinctures or capsules.
We chose to plant my placenta and have a tree-planting ceremony for bub. I did look into having capsules made during pregnancy, but we decided on a lotus birth – and kept the cord and placenta attached for 6 hours after the birth so that babe received maximum nutrients and the energy from the placenta.
By the time my husband cut the cord it had gone completely white! Very satisfying knowing bub received all of that cord blood! But the consequence was that we missed the window for safely making capsules.
C’est la vie… I’m very happy we kept our baby’s placenta and did something special with it, it felt so grounding and earthy to be able to celebrate as a family and plant a tree for our little boy.
5 Tips for Planting a Placenta Tree for Your Baby:
- Choose a Location.
Firstly you need to decide on a location. You can plant it in the ground if you own your home and are planning on being there long term, or you could choose a family member’s garden. You can also choose to pot your tree if you are renting or not sure how long you will be in your current home.
We decided to pot our baby’s special tree in a glazed terracotta pot 40cm tall so that we can take it with us to the next house and eventually plant it somewhere we plan to ‘grow deeper roots’ as a family.
If planting in a pot you could consider terracotta or a plastic pot (can be easier to transplant later as you can cut a plastic pot along the side) and ensure you go for minimum 40cm height 40cm diameter – bigger than this would be better (up to 60 cm tall), smaller is not recommended as you need enough room for some roots to grow. Be sure the pot has drainage holes.
When choosing a location ensure there will be enough sunlight for your tree – the tree we chose (lemon) needs about 6 hours of light per day.
2. Select a Tree.
I thought long and hard about this decision. Because of the timing we had to choose something that we could plant in Autumn. Citrus was the best option because they fruit all year round and are happy being transplanted at this time of year plus after looking into different varieties (pomegranates among others) we discovered many other fruit trees are already going into hibernation ready for winter.
I did look at dwarf citrus trees as they pot well, but I decided I didn’t like the feng shui element of buying a dwarf tree – something that is genetically programmed to stay small means it will never grow big and strong! I decided I want my son to have a decent sized tree he can be proud of and can one day pick fruit from. So we opted for lemon.
3. Plant Baby’s Tree.
Remove your placenta from the freezer the day before you intend to plant it (and place it in the fridge until it is defrosted.) If planting in the ground ensure you place placenta deep (half a metre) so that animals cannot get to it. If in a pot place a layer of soil in the bottom of the pot then put your placenta in, and add soil and organic fertiliser on top.
Do something ceremonious to mark the occasion. We chose to read a poem which I wrote called the ‘Tree of Life – An Ode to Leonardo’. I also used some incense and bells as part of the ritual, we took some pictures and made sure my son was able to touch the tree and participate in his small way. You could light candles, burn special oils, sing a song or anything that makes it feel special to your family.
4. Care for Baby’s Tree.
Water the tree as soon as it has been planted to soak the roots and help it become established. It will need to be watered 2-3 times in that first week, then once a week after that (will depend on the type of tree and location.) Potted trees require more watering than those in the ground.
If in a pot, every year remove the top 1/3 layer of soil and replace with fresh soil. Use an organic fertiliser at this time.
Prune in Autumn, if in a pot cut longer spindly branches back to promote a rounder shape, and ensure no cross branches as this can impact on fruit development.
5. Teach Baby About Their Tree.
I have just ordered a copy of the book ‘My Tree’ from Birth to Earth – a New Zealand company that specialises in environmentally friendly placenta planting packs. Definitely worth checking out if you are interested in this option. I can’t wait to read this beautiful story to our boy and teach him about his magic tree.
We’ve also been out there each day since the ritual to touch the tree and talk to him. It’s pretty cool. I can’t wait to watch for the first blossoms and fruit to arrive.
If you know someone who is pregnant, or has their placenta stored away for ‘safe keeping’ hit share and send some placenta love their way!
Feel free to post a comment on the blog below – we would love to know what you did with your placenta! Share your story and inspire another mother.
I just wanted to make a special tribute to all of the beautiful women who have crossed my path and openly shared their stories and knowledge. These soul sisters have played a profound role in deepening my understanding of motherhood and life as a woman. My writing is a reflection of many of the lessons learned from conversations with these women. Without their love and collective wisdom to ground me and give me strength these posts would never see the light of day. Thank you deeply – you know who you are.
Oh and a big thank you must go to the lovely City Hippy Farm Girl for her Tree of Life inspo.
Elizabeth Santos is a holistic physiotherapist, naturopath and author who home-birthed baby number one in 2015. She lives in the Adelaide hills with her family.
Beautiful post. As a placenta specialist its lovely to see the acknowledging of the amazing and wonderous organ that has produced such a gift! Many cultures believe we should treat it as special as the baby and almost all cultures have a ritual surrounding it. Its great you discussed the safety and storage of placentas in order to consume as its often not known 🙁 but there are ways to still achieve a modified lotus birth with consumption if stored and prepared correctly. A verified placenta specialist will be abe to answer all the questions. The only thing to be mindful of for burial is sometimes placentas can be just soo potent that trees actually dont survive so you can plant them in the soil for a few months before the tree, to give the soil some time to enrich, or plant it much deeper. Looks like youre beautiful tree is doing really well! X
Hello there lovely one and thank you for your fantastic and knowledgable comment! Particularly worthwhile your mention of the potency of the placenta and the option to plant in the soil before hand to enrich it prior to planting and I believe this is a great suggestion as it would be disappointing if your tree failed to thrive! I did come across this during my research. Yes our baby boy’s tree is still doing really well and I am keeping an eye on it! Your thoughts and time take are much appreciated thanks for stopping by! x
Hi there Elizabeth, I’ve just stumbled across your blog as I plan on planting my daughters placenta on her 2nd birthday (which is next week). I’ve also read that the placenta should be planted a few months or a year before planting a tree because of the potency. I’m wondering how your tree is going a year later? And you also live in Adelaide, like me!
Looking forward to hearing from you. Rhiannon x
Hi Rhiannon – thanks for connecting! Oh yes what a wonderful and meaningful way to celebrate your daughter’s second birthday. Our tree is still going strong I can send you a photo if you would like to PM me your email address, or email at info@elizabethsantos.com.au
I would love to offer some tips or suggestions for what I would do differently next time! Warmest, Elizabeth. x
hi,
thank you for all the information
my placenta is in the fridge defrosting for the planting.. i would like to hear about those tips and suggestions
Noa
Hi Noa
I’ve just come across your comment now! If you would like to get in touch for any extra insights please contact me on info@elizabethsantos.com.au and I would love to share!
Warmest,
Elizabeth
We planted our grand daughters placenta today. 12 months later 😊
Oh fantastic! It’s such a special occasion. Thank you for sharing your journey! x
We planted a peach tree for my grandson Jackson this morning, it was a beautiful moment.
Oh that sounds so lovely Margaret! Wonderful choice. Thank you for sharing and may his special tree bring you all happiness (and an abundance of fruit!)
Hi Elizabeth, this is is a very nice article. I am also planning to plant the placenta of our baby. I just have a few questions, how long can we put the placenta frozen? And is it okay to keep it in our freezer?
Dear Ishtar, congratulations on this beautiful decision and event in your lives and life of your babe. If you have kept your placenta in the freezer for planting, it won’t matter how long it has been there. I kept mine 9 months before we planted it. However a word of caution, if you plan on ingesting (eating) it, then you would need to seek advice from someone who does placenta encapsulation to make sure it is safe to eat, was not kept out of the fridge too long before freezing / refrigeration. Good luck and hope this helps!
Hi Elizabeth
We just planted a lemon tree yesterday with my baby boy placent. I am wondering how your tree is going and if you can share some tips. I sent you an email.
Dear Ambar I am sorry for my delay! How is your lemon tree? I hope it is thriving. Warmest wishes xx
Hi Elizabeth my name is Paola Ramírez from Dominican Republic, I had my baby in Jun 9, 2019. He is dead because he had Trisomy 18 Edward Syndrome. Your post help my broke hard to find a second chance of life for my Angel. I keep his Placenta since this time in my freezer, and that’s the last thing I keep from my baby. You can’t imagine how thankful I am for your post!!
Dear Paola reading your post has brought tears to my eyes and I am sending you so much love in your healing journey. So sorry for your loss of your beautiful baby what heartbreak. Thank you for commenting on the post and I do hope you find some healing and peace through the process of planting a tree for your spirit baby. All the love xxx
Hi,
Am i able to plant a type of flower instead of tree? I only rent so will have plastic pots to sit in my newly built planter box for now. I have 3 placenta that i will pot in 3 different pots. Any suggestions of types of flowera i can use and will get along together with each other in a planter box for now🤗
Hi Jaimelyn,
I can see no reason why you couldn’t plant flowers instead of trees. It will depend how much sun they get as to what type of flowers would do best. Just keep in mind that a perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years – like trees and shrubs. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. Flowers that you would buy to put in pots may only be annuals and biennials, and so you will need to take them out once they die and plant something else… but the placenta will make for rich soil which should help. Sometimes the placenta can even be overpowering so you might just consider planting one at this stage and keeping the other two for another time / space? Good luck and keep me posted!
So I’m having trouble figuring out where to put my tree and I’m coming up on the first frost so it may be too late to get it done this year and I was wondering if I can keep my placenta in the freezer for a year if I’m planning to put it in the ground? I had the baby in March of this year and so it would be like March/April of next year that I might plant it. Is that okay?
Hi there – there are restrictions and guidelines you need to follow if you plan to ingest your placenta in the form of tinctures or capsules. But if it is for planting there is no restriction on the amount of time. If your intuition tells you not to plant a tree now because of the first frosts then I understand that. Where abouts in the world are you? One thing to keep in mind is that repotting or pruning back plants in Autumn / Fall is actually a surprisingly good time because during winter even though there is not much happening above ground, below ground plants are very busy assimilating nutrients from the earth, so you could potentially still have success.
Have you bought your new tree yet?
If you plan to go to a nursery to buy the plant ask the gardeners there – or phone ahead and discuss. You needn’t necessarily give them alll the details about the placenta! But you could still ask them best time to pot a new baby tree and they will be able to advise you of types of species. You could plant something that is not necessarily a fruiting tree like an oak or a maple or anything you feel called to.
Keep me posted!
Hi Elizabeth,
I’m amazed by this idea of planting the placenta. I’m now with 22 weeks of pregnancy with my little boy and thinking about planting. But! for now we are living in an apartment without balcony, so I’m not sure if this would be actually an option.
Have you ever heard about somebody trying indoor? Would be ok trying with a big big pot and a ficus? (I love ficus!)
Thanks for your lovely post, best wishes for your family and many greeting from Germany.
Hi Nataly, I love the idea of having it indoors with you! You have a few options, you could either keep it frozen until you have somewhere with a balcony or yard, or you could try the Ficus option. Have you ever successfully grown a Ficus indoors in Germany where you live? Perhaps go to a local nursery and ask for some help with choosing a hardy plant (Ficus is a good choice) that will thrive inside! Good luck and keep me posted!
Hi Elizabeth: I planted my grandson’s placenta with a dogwood tree I purchased at a local nursery twenty years ago. I must say that this tree is so beautiful and has grown to at least twenty feet and is always full of pink and white blooms in the Springtime. I have carved Elijah’s name and birthdate in the base of the tree. Please, I have a question for you or anyone who may want to comment. A friend said she heard that Elijah’s DNA could also be in the tree. Have you or anyone else on here heard anything about this to be true? I appreciate any thoughts or comments and look forward to receiving any ideas. Denise
Wow this is an incredible story! Thank you so much for sharing this! I have absolutely no way of knowing the answer to this – I strongly suspect there have been no randomised controlled trials on this subject to even begin to shed some light on whether there could be DNA from your grandson in the tree. I do believe that it is potent and powerful for our body to be in contact with the earth – what a brilliant way to bring connection for your grandson to the earth. Sorry I can’t be of more help I did have a quick scout for research but did not find any! A very interesting thought indeed.
Hi Elizabeth, thanks for your post. I wish I had read it earlier. I had planned about planting my placenta well in advance during my pregnancy. But, I did not know that the placenta could be stored in the freezer for so long! You see, my placenta is already planted in the front yard of a family member, as we live in an apartment. And since I was only a few days into postpartum, my husband planted the tree. Me or my baby did not get to witness it. I regret it so much! Now the thing is, those family members do not water my placenta plant or even care for it. I’m worried it will most likely not survive. It’s been 3 months to the plantation. My question is, can the plastic container be removed and replanted again now? Just thinking how can I get it back or set it right as I have a lot of sentimental value attached to it. Look forward to your comments, thanks. Karishma
Hi Karishma,
Sorry for my delay, do you know how the plant is going? What did you plant – and have you been able to check on it!? One thing that might make you feel better, is knowing that you did indeed put the placenta in the Earth. You see there are some schools of thought, that it is not so important that you grow a tree (necessarily) but more important to connect your babies DNA with mother earth! Please update me when you get a moment. Thanks, Elizabeth
Everyone’s stories are so beautiful and special. When I went into labor at the last minute my fiancé decided for us to keep the placenta. Me and him didn’t really speak about it before I went into labor and didn’t have a plan with the hospital. So when I went into labor and he asked the delivery MD if we can keep it, he said it was no problem. However the rest of the hospital staff treated us like it was the most outlandish thing they heard of and stated that we couldn’t keep it. Long story short, someone gave us the waiver to keep it in regards of the biohazard waste handed it to us in the white bucket and said you have to remove it out of the hospital immediately. Well, the delivering hospital was 1hr+ from our home so it ended up sitting in our car for the remainder of our time admitted. Once we got it home we had no idea it needed to be frozen as no one from the hospital told us anything and so much was going on that neither of us looked it up. Anyways, it’s still sitting in our garage and I’ve been wanting to plant it but worry the potency or if it’s completely rotted. So much went wrong during this pregnancy and I feel like this was just another thing that took the “specialness” away from it. Do you think it’s still safe to plant it or have any other ideas I could do for it?
Hi Laura, sorry for the delay – I am pleased to hear you did end up keeping it! Even though it was not straight forward. What did you decide to do with it? It could still be planted even if it is old – connecting your babies DNA with the earth is one of the most precious things. Please update me when you get a moment. Thanks, Elizabeth
Hi there! Thank you for sharing your experience/journey and helpful tips. I am due to give birth in late February and have decided to plant my placenta. However, I live in an apartment and the plant would be inside (mostly). I really wanted to plant a lemon tree, but do you have any suggestions on plants for indoors. I do have a patio, so it could be outside during the nicer months. Also, once you plant the placenta with soil, is there any odor that may come from the placenta that you are aware of?
Hi! Apologies for the delay and hope your birthing time is going wonderfully well. I do not have experience planting a placenta indoors! I cannot say with certainty, how well it would decompose in the soil indoors, whether or not there would be odour etc. Just something to consider – that this is an unknown! It is a human organ, and does breakdown in the soil, releasing nitrogen and ammonia. I would suggest you keep it in the freezer, and bring it out, buy a pot and tree in the warmer months – plant it all then. It can be outside for that first part and then moved inside in the colder months? Please circle back and update us! Good luck with your birth and postpartum time.