Placenta Eating Part II

I feel I could be treading on a few toes when I touch again on the subject of eating the placenta.  For the life of me I can't get the concept around it.  Call me what you like but I don't know what to say in all honesty.  I'm aware that the benefits afterward are rewarding in terms of the nourishment factor and the way in which it nurtures new mama's through postpartum depression and I've read and weighed up all the cons oh and the pros's too, but I can't convince myself that it is necessary.

Maybe it's just me in thinking that postpartum doesn't exist in the Maori world and I would be lying if I thought that.  I know first hand that I was effected to a degree but what was it that saved me from the full throws of PPD? It was community.  It was an age old way of life that we Maori lived in, and to a degree still live in. Where our babies are every one's babies and the concept of sharing our breast milk wasn't anything new. Our normality of the present concepts enriching many lives in today's society, was our way of life.  Rongoa (medicines) were sought in our natural resources, within our bushes, along our coastlines, in roots, barks, water sources and through daily Karakia (prayers) Our head spaces were filled with positive feelings because of the community that we formed and the community that helped us to grow.  The same community that guided us through our stages in life and the imprints we make on life.  The downfall of the community ship that existed came at the hands of laws and legislation to oppress us from our natural habitation to a township way of life.  By township, I'm talking yours and mine way of thinking.  You owe me for the privilege of that resource, food, service, house and land.  With this comes the monetary value of the resource, which we will tax you for and ultimately declare ownership of it's use.  We don't want you practicing your hoo haa mambo jumbo superstition, spirituality stuff because that's blasphemy.  Or speaking your language amongst yourselves because you could be plotting against us.  We will break up your community living structure and educate you in the way of us.  This is and was the coming of townmanship to Maori.  The coming of age into modern day illness, worries, conformity's and a new way of living, behavior, mindset and value system.  Each to their own reigned supreme.

How does this relate in any way to eating placenta? Well if the one of the reasons that a mama would eat it is for the purpose of PPD and to increase milk supply,  the aforementioned preventions I suppose in a way backs my plight not to.  But, I will by no means mock or knock a mothers decisions to do so, but I think it's a decision to be considered and informed fully about before doing the do.  In Maori communities, it was the norm to see breastfeeding mothers, openly and outwardly giving what was given to them as a means to sustain our babies.  Many indigenous communities still breastfeed in this manner, which in my thinking encourages the let down of milk.  Have you ever heard another baby crying and felt your breast/s leak? This is what I mean by the sense in community breastfeeding.  This encourages us to let down easily and increase the feel good factor in breastfeeding, which in turn encourages our Pepi (baby) to feed contently.  Feeding which encourages more milk supply.  It was not uncommon to allow a close relative to feed your baby if that situation ever arose.  Does that make us bastards and weirdos for doing so? No, absolutely not.  I had my own sister breastfeed my eldest son at one stage as I was poorly and ill due to the pregnancy of my second.  When my breasts were so engorged with my now daughter, she found it hard to attach, so my partners cousin offered her breast in the interim.  I love these woman for thinking of my children and offering such a frowned upon act.  That is the spirit of the community I know and grew up in.

Eating the Whenua (Placenta)

I find it interesting to hear of new mothers eating the placenta that they have just birthed.  I'm not talking straight eating it all natural and raw straight off the bat, I'm talking about encapsulating it and THEN eating it.  Following a process of first cleaning, boiling and then dehydrating, after this process it is powdered and then capsuled for use.  That simple and apparently very effective, well each to their own is all I can say.  It's certainly not a practice that I as a Maori woman would ever consider, for the mere sacredness that the Whenua holds to us and the rites in which need to take place for the Whenua.  Having the Whenua buried in a sacred place, maintains it's rightful significance to that of the child and the completion of this step following birth.  The placenta is not stored in the freezer for a later date, due to it being in the same vicinity as food, which from a cultural perspective is a no no.  I am pretty confident at upholding these handed down practices because it is who we are.  

I had at one stage considered a lotus birth, which involves leaving the Whenua attached and the process of waiting for the cord to detach happens when the Whenua is ready.  This brings about a few interesting concepts and thoughts about how the Whenua is nurtured much like the new born.  For Maori however or for me moreso, the Whenua contains it's own spirit within it.  Ultimately becoming it's own entity, which from our spiritual perspective needs be handled correctly.  Having the Whenua within the home is likened to energy not of this world lingering within your house.  Not too dis-similar to that of lingering spirits, because it is no longer a life force of this world.  It has surpassed it's purpose, much like our bodies when we pass.  So it must be buried in a scared place, to allow it to move on to the next stage of it's being.  How do you quantify such information into a scientific perspective which enable everyone to understand? Does the term spirituality even have a scientific twin to help with my thoughts.  Not likely but it's here as a thought provoking conversation none the less.

Fertility

Has fertility ever been an issue for you?  It appears that in the last 2 years I am becoming more aware of my body in terms of its fertility.  Especially now that I am older and don't have that once upon a time youth on my side.  Also considering the amount of miscarriages that I have suffered in this relationship especially, that I am becoming more aware of me and my well being.  My OH and I have discussed the prospect of more children in the very near future, as in yesterday.  Our last pregnancy was in November 2010, confirmed following routine blood work.  At 10 weeks it was confirmed via ultrasound that we were once again expecting twins, news which I welcomed with apprehension and news he welcomed with joy.  By the time 12 weeks had ticked by, I had started to bleed and made a quick visit to emergency.  Confirming that in fact I was in the process of miscarrying.  It was news all too familiar and unreal, because technically why was I suffering so many miscarriages?  This is when my cycle came to a complete halt.  No period, no nothing and I knew that something was wrong.  After 5 months I decided I would talk to my doctor, blood tests were done and an ultrasound of my ovaries, uterus and fallopian tubes etc was carried out.  All was normal in the left until the right side, which showed enlarged eggs but of a smaller amount to the left.  Really there was no reason physically that could confirm why I wasn't getting pregnant.  Blood work was fine and yet I still wasn't having a cycle and I still wasn't getting pregnant.  

I put it down to my weight.  If I can instill more walking into my life on a daily basis, I am confident that I will be pregnant next year.  All going well with OH of course, this is a two person act after all.  I have done so much research on fertility and treatment and will be making some changes to my diet to the effect.  Changes that I will keep updated for all.

Raising our girls to be queens

My youngest daughter turns 3 in January. Both of my daughters are unique in their personalities and different in their individual view of the world. I miss my eldest girl. I havnt had the opportunity to watch her grow in to a woman and I don't even know if she is yet a woman. Information I appear to be struck off from hearing about. So before I get into the whole slanging match over this issue. I will leave it at that. As a girl, I was not coached or taught about the functions of my reproductive parts or the birds and the bees for that matter. I don't think in my youth I could have tolerated the humiliation of 'the talk' with either of my parents or my older siblings. There was one book however that was available in our primary school library. Bare in mind this was before the censorship of books and material allowed in schools. We had a year 1 to year 8 schooling system, so middle school was combined with elementary and I'm assuming this included books for their age groups. Readily available in our libraries as resources to pour over, for education purposes. I was amused as most would be, yet found it uncomfortable in thinking that a boy thing does that and our bits do this. Sex wasn't a subject I cared to know about, I was more interested in periods. Not understanding why, just thinking that girls get to wear pads in their knickers. The thought actually made me wanting to get it moreso and way ahead of my time. Girls at our school had it and I thought of them as lucky, me and weird thoughts. One time I actually thought I had, only it was dye from my underwear causing the reddened toilet paper. So disappointed. My mother was very clever at hiding her menses days. I didn't know or even once had an ounce of knowing when she was. My mother and personal hygiene were as close as close got. So I'm thinking that from a young age, my mother knew how to hide her days. When I was finally blessed at age 14, pretty much near my birthday. I had gone to a public toilet which I knew had a dispenser with feminine products and I was excited and a tad scared all in one. It was exhilarating knowing that I was finally able to use woman only products. Could you imagine how I was feeling. I wonder if at age 14, my eldest daughter has her period. I wish I could have given her a shoe box full of products and educated her on how to use them. Ways to prevent leaks and feeling confident about buying what she needed, when she needed. How to make sure she has placed her tampon in properly and the difference between applicators and non applicators. Well I've missed that boat so all I can do is dream and wait for daughter number two.

As a woman menstruating and a Māori woman at that, I placed restrictions on myself in varying situations. Just because I wore tampons, this didn't give me the okay to swim in the sea. Why? Because this is where a food source derives from and my bodily waste be it uterus, bowel or bladder is not part of the food chain.  I have been taught to repect our atua Hine-moana, Hine-Marama and Tangaroa and in me it's been an acknowledgement of what they afford us humans.

The very functions that are reserved for designated locations on land and in accordance with both Tapū (sacred) and Noa (neutrality). This involves not placing your posterior, ass or buttocks on a table reserved for food & benches where food preparation takes place. In Māori custom there is no boundary crossing of either. I cringe when I see television openly exploiting this concept, which teaches our Māori youth today how acceptable it is. We are taught from ad after ad how acceptable swimming in the sea is during your period. Our customs, practices and traditions have all been disregarded to make way for a liberated, carefree woman, who compromises her identity to fit in. Their is a lack of responsibility in nurturing our sacredness, owning our bodies whole heartedly as Māori woman and encouraging our Kōtiro (girls) to mirror this same sacredness. I am fortunate that I have grown in thought to not only consider these factors, but that of the environment also. Reducing the waste in landfills and sewers, which man is readily dumping into the oceans and clogging the lands with. Introducing the Diva Cup. A cup made of rubber or latex, which acts to cup menstrual bi product instead of soaking it into a tampon or pad. This is then washed out and reinserted as needed. It aims to reduce the packaging and disposal of packaging. Cloth made pads are readily available and can be washed and re-used. Society is such a buy buy culture now, that it is compelled to buy & throw. How much more respect would our daughters have for their bodies, if they were taught to treasure it. To accept that it is a sacred temple and to look after it. Us as parents, caregivers and extended families need to baby this effect on our girls, daughters, nieces etc. Māori Whānautanga is part of who we are.

Birth how I want to birth

I have been trying to make light of when the shift of home birth to hospital birth became the norm in Māori society. It appears that decisions based purely on say so and laws made this move or should I say forced this move. Along with the ever increasing spread of diseases and apparent un-savory conditions of Māori homes, that gave this idea of hospital being safer. This is the part that I find gets my wick up in terms of forced hospital birthing.

Small Pox and Typhoid, two introduced epidemics almost saw the near extinction of Māori. This saw a *noted* decrease in population numbers in rural communities. The passing of the Tōhunga Suppression Act 1907, saw the use of Tōhungaism an act against the law. The introduction of Māori advocates in our communities, had them monitoring the local goings on to more a less police Māori. This meant that who ever practiced Tōhunga acts was fined or jailed. A Tōhunga was also responsible for attending births, which assisted in the safe delivery of all babies into the world, by way of prayers and acknowledgement to Io and our Atua (guardians) who nurture the birthing rite of passage. Hospitals meant the reliance on a system new to Māori and most importantly new to our culture. Couple this with communication issues and a hospital environment, makes for an unhealthy spiritual experience (or lack of) in a clinical setting. A matron or two no doubt, holding your legs in a foreign against gravity way. Or for the horror in stirrups with your legs wide open for who? Oh yes the male doctor between your legs.

How degrading must it have felt as a Māori woman to show your Whare Tangata to a male who wasn't your partner or female relative? And we Māori were frowned upon for being bastard heathens with no morals or values. Appears to me, we had more concern about our personal and private functions than these so called medical professionals. Ultimately I'm saying we didn't own our births once the hospitals got their grubby mitts on us. We were forced out of our birthing zones of having immediate female relatives present, who attended to our birthing needs in a guiding, spiritual and holistic environment. Our Tōhunga (spiritual leaders) were disregarded as existing and to top it off. A private environment was no longer present for us to birth. No more Whāre Kōhanga (nesting houses births and no consideration for our needs as birthing women. We were now regarded as main stream birthers with color, language barriers and of low socio economic backgrounds, with high risk needs purely for being Māori. Try tell me I'm wrong in this. I've done my research and while some aspects of hospital settings 'back in the day's' birth wise are nothing short of miraculous. They were also nothing short of barbaric, disrespectful and insensitive. As Māori and women, our bodies were considered sacred due to their ability to sustain, nurture and bring forth life. Birth was spiritual in all aspects as was the postpartum period, where the Whēnua (afterbirth) was taken by an attendant to be buried in a sacred place. The cords were cut using a sharp obsidian after being tied off using stripped Harakēkē (flax) fibre. The remaining Pītō (umbilicus stump) was then treated with Tītoki Tree oil, then left to fall off when it was ready. Complete this process with breastfeeding and our future generations are set for the first part of life as Māori in the physical world. Once the postpartum bleeding stage was complete, mother, newborn, attendants and Tōhunga emerged. The Whāre Kōhanga was then burnt & the Tapū of all was lifted, to ensure safety in moving on to the next process of motherhood.

Our afterbirths weren't fiddled with, cut open or had stem cell cord blood leached from them. We didn't disregard our afterbirth by sending it to the biohazard disposal unit. We didn't eat our afterbirth for nutrients or to battle postpartum depression, for the fact we were communal dwellers. We had the ongoing support of the community there to assist and nurture this Pēpī (baby) as if they were their own. Babies born into our community were considered everyones babies, which ensured their upbringing in loving environments and learning from a young age the concept of Whānaungātangā (family). These are the values that are embraced very sparingly and unwillingly in some cases today.

The dividing line

With the ever increasing westernized idea of tattoos on the lower back of women increasing. I'm finding it hard to contain my annoyance at this carrying over to Tā Moko. More so for the tattooists who do them. No I'm not a prude, I have a Tā Moko of my own which I don't disrespect by putting close to my butt crack. Intricate lines which although mean very little to some, hold significance by way of the lines which create a pattern. The same principles apply to carving, Tukutuku (weaved panels) panels found in our Marae (meeting houses) and now places of notice in the more public sector. Most symbols signify the beginning of life, life forces and sources, our ancestors more importantly, stories of old & new and pay homage to those passed on & maybe living too. Why Māori women in particular, consider their lower back in close proximity to their waste disposal unit a significant Tā Moko placement. Is beyond my comprehension and morals. All I can say is shame on you!!. Oh yes this is a dig blog and rightly so. You might as well place your butt on the food table to add to the mix.
Just saying!

A perspective all the same

It appears that we are in the lower minority of women who actually express what birth was like for us.  Is it a time old secrecy that certain things are not to spoken of or that we really don't know how to express what birth was like for us.  I'm compelled to share experiences from my own perspective on many many aspects to do with childbirth and the natural In's and outs of mothering.  I am by no means a world of knowledge and I am a perfect example of a woman failed at mothering.  Which is why I share with you how not to be a mother and how not to raise your children.  I am the face of neglect to the point my children were homeless and living in hotel rooms.  I was so caught up in my new relationship and my pending pregnancy to my now partner, that I failed to nurture the previous three I grew in my belly.  I don't mind your gasps of disbelief  and disgust as you read this, because I'm paying for my misgivings.  My eldest children now live with their father, who is in hiding in New Zealand.  I know there are people in my family who know their whereabouts and have been in contact with them, so their safety in any way has never been an issue.  I just miss them and watching them grow up.  I'm entitled to that feeling, after all I did birth them into this world in perfect surroundings and with love, I wont be denied that no matter what anyone says.  I intend on contributing as much as I can from my many perspectives.  Judge me if you wish, I owe you nothing and I value your opinion to a certain degree.