Placenta Magic

"I knew a placenta once. She was a big gal. Knew how to hold her space. I considered inviting her home but others said "oh no - no, no, no.," and then she was gone, just like that."

Most women these days who give birth surrounded by doctors or midwives don't learn anything about the placenta before they give birth, and then afterwards it disappears just like the one Sarah described above. She birthed in the hospital, was followed by midwives, and had no idea that her baby's magical organ would simply disappear into the bowels of the hospital.

The placenta is a unique organ that provides nourishment for the fetus during their time in the womb. It is attached to the mother's body; it works as a filter between the mother's blood and the fetus'; it provides the fetus with oxygen-rich blood from the mother's body, and allows for the transportation of oxygen-depleted blood to leave the fetus' circulation and get transported back to the mother's circulatory system.

After the baby is born, the uterus works to expel the placenta, and if the umbilical cord has not been cut, then the attached placenta separates from the baby's body within a few days to a week after birth. However, it is very common practice now to cut the umbilical cord even before the placenta is born, thus depriving the newborn of some of the oxygen that it could have had access to without the separation.

Many women do not know about the placenta. I've created a Mini Series about this magical organ on my Baby Magic Podcast. Listen up on the 9, 16 and 23 of February, 2021 for a look at the placenta: 

On February 9 we will be guided by Patricia Edmonds, midwife of over 40 years, who will answer the question: What is the placenta? 

On February 16 I will be chatting with two women who decided on Lotus Birth for their babies. One of these women gave birth in a hospital, and the other at home.

And on February 23 two business partners from Australia will enlighten us on placental encapsulation and the benefits of ingesting placenta.

Listen up! I hope our meanderings through the world of women's bodies, justice, and love are pleasing to you. 

Get Physical

I joined the Y about five years ago because our bathroom was so disgusting ... that is, my husband had renovated it but I am very sensitive to the leftover emotions in buildings (ok, so get out your "she's too flaky" signs), and something very bad had happened in that bathroom at some point, and I just couldn't go in it. (We moved and our new house is fine.)

Anyway, back then, I joined the Y. 

I grew up an hour from the Rockies, so all winter was skiing and all summer was hiking. As soon as I was able (too soon in fact, I was only fourteen), I was off in the mountains on my own, hiking and wandering. I am no stranger to physical fitness. When my husband and I were done with trekking through the African continent, we started a farm in Italy where I was his main builder's helper, so I not only took care of four small children and maintained the household, but I also dug in the garden, hoed the potatoes, shovelled out the chicken coop, split wood, carried water from the spring, and hauled cement.

I was no stranger to physical exercise but my years as a suburban mother in a dingy outpost in Montreal had softened me. Just imagine my joy when I discovered that the Y has a running track suspended above the gym, where no one ever goes! I could run to my heart's content, all alone, and get into the zone without having to listen to music, other people, or CNN.

Last year we had a crisis and I decided that the gym membership had to go. It was a luxury. I could easily run outside until it was too cold, and use weights in the basement, and go cross country skiing.

NOT.

By last week, I felt awful. Flabby, tired, sleepy (different from tired), crabby, bitchy (different from crabby). Disillusioned (little voice saying, you are an idiot and you don't really make any difference at all).

I decided to get my membership back. That was three days ago. I went the first day and ran four k. The next day I did a yoga class that was actually not real yoga; it was punishing in its insistence on the core (as if the human body was a nuclear reactor). Then I took a day off. Yesterday I ran again. Since I started exercising again, I keep waking up in the morning. At seven. And wondering why I feel so good. 

So, of course, the answer is that I felt good - feel good - because I was using my physical body. Yes, I would rather be in the garden producing food for my family, or splitting wood that we had just brought in from the forest. But right now that's not happening, so do need to admit that the gym is where I get my exercise (champagne problem, yes, I realize that too)....

Whether we are born naturally, by cesarean section, with or without drugs. Whether our parents loved each other, or not, or even knew each other; whether the act of conception was desired or not, we all came from a home that looked a little bit like this:






We all come from the same elements, the same language of blood and oxygen runs through our veins and arteries.We are pinned to the material world with our bodies. And they are flesh, blood, bones, and muscle. Among other things. And we need to use them, actually we need to test their limits, like a child does, we need to run so hard we get tired. We need to lift things that are too heavy, so that we have to put them down. We need to jump higher.

Ride a bicycle. Go for a walk. Do yoga. Run. Lift weights. Use your body, and your body will be happy.