The Birth Tree

My daughter Jami

The last time my daughter came to visit she had a surprise for us.  She asked if we would be willing to plant a memorial tree on our farm using the placenta from her last child’s birth to place under the new tree.

My grandson Dax was born in Texas, so his placenta had to be frozen until the planting ceremony.

Truthfully I had never heard of this before and it all happened so very quickly that I didn't have much time to prepare. 

Afterward, I did a little research and found out quite a lot. 

There are simple ceremonies, eloquent ceremonies, and elaborate ceremonies performed to honor the placenta all over the world. 

Many cultures, including the Navajo Indians and New Zealand's Maori, bury the placenta to symbolize the baby's link to the earth.

 

The Navajo of the American Southwest customarily buries a child's placenta within the sacred Four Corners region to bind the child to its ancestral land and to its people. The Maoris of New Zealand buries the placenta in native soil for the same reason. They even applied their word for land to the placenta - "whenua."

In certain regions of Siberia, the buried placenta is thought to be ill or uncomfortable if the baby becomes sick. The gravesite is treated, and the placenta may be reburied in another spot in hopes of curing the child.  

 

The Parigi of the Celebes Islands also views the placenta as the older brother. It is carefully preserved in a special pot, wrapped in white cotton, and is ritually buried by the mother. Palm trees are then planted to honor the burial site. Similar beliefs can be found in Java and Bali.

Many world cultures have a tradition of planting the placenta under a young tree and that tree becomes the child’s tree, symbolizing life.  Trees planted this way tend to do well benefiting from the nutrients from the placenta. 

I loved the idea of having my grandson’s birth tree here on the farm.  They live so far away; it helps me to feel as if a part of my daughter is here with me.

 

My husband and son-in-law digging the hole

What is the Placenta?

The placenta grows with the baby from the very first cell divisions; it is even formed from the same cells as the baby.   The placenta is there to provide nourishment to the growing child and is the direct physical link between the mother and child.  It also cleans wastes that form throughout the pregnancy. 

Keeping The Placenta

It is very important to tell your care provider or doctor and the hospital ahead of time that you are taking your placenta home with you.

You should plan on bringing a cooler to the hospital for care and ease of transport from hospital to home and put it directly into the freezer.

You can freeze your placenta for as long as you need to, some people even wait for the baby's first birthday or other milestones.

This website,  Birth to Earth Tree Planting  is great for an entire package to go with the tree planting including an educational book and a copper tag to hang on the tree with the child’s name, date of birth, and date of planting. 

The Tree Planting

The burial and tree planting can be a way to honor the experience of birth by taking the part of you that kept your baby alive in the womb and transferring it to a tree for continued nourishment and a dedication of future life, health and love. 

To make your tree planting more personal to you, have a poem ready to read, a declaration or promise you wish to make, or say a prayer or blessing for health and long life.

You can bury tokens along with the planting such as mementos of grandmothers or other family members to make it a group or family tree shared by generations.

For me, it was a way to feel connected to my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren. 

30 plus years ago my daughter Jami was connected to me with our own placenta and umbilical cord.  Now, even though they are miles away, I will be connected to my daughter and her children every time I look out at this beautiful tree. 

My husband and I have been planting a lot of trees since we purchased our farm, but had not been able to locate one tree, in particular, I really wanted, an American Sycamore. 

On that warm summer day in July, we were able to find just that tree at a nearby nursery and my husband Bill and son-in-law Donnie brought it home. 

We located a perfect spot that would provide shade but also a place where we could see the tree while either on the patio or from multiple windows in our house.  All year long we can look out and see the new spring leaves, sit under the dark summer shade of the limbs, see the leaves turn golden in autumn, or watch snowfall land on each branch.  

And each time I see the tree I am reminded of this wonderful gift my daughter gave to me. 

 

 

What Type of Tree?

Growing up we had a huge sycamore tree in our front yard my father had planted.  My father also installed a huge rope swing that I and my many siblings enjoyed for many many hours.  We also fought a lot over that darn swing!  My older sisters and brothers loved to climb to the top of the sycamore tree and could see for miles and miles and even watch the city’s July 4th fireworks display.  So because of the memories of that big wonderful tree, and as a way to remember my father, I have planted a sycamore tree in every one of our homes.

To find the meaning behind each tree you can go to this website: Tree meanings

Or go to this website for an American Indian Tree Symbols Chart. 

My husband Bill, son-in-law Donnie, granddaughter Maddie, and grandson Dax,  tree planting weekend, July 2014 

I waited nearly a year to write this post.  I wanted to make sure our tree, my grandson Dax's tree and my daughter Jami’s tree, my tree, our family tree survived the cold winter here in Ohio.  
It did.

Elizabeth

Other Posts:

Family Stories

The Old Farmer's Exchange

Scrapbooking a Family Cookbook