hi all,
i would like to open a thread on placenta/cord/membranes ressources. be it for medical or traditional or arts or ... use. be it websites, books, brochures, personal documents, whatever... looking forward!
hi brie, the other discussion was more on anatomy (very interesting!), but i'm thinking more of rituals, what to do with placentas/cords/membranes after the birth. actually, i'm looking for any and alot of ressources
hi brie, the other discussion was more on anatomy (very interesting!), but i'm thinking more of rituals, what to do with placentas/cords/membranes after the birth. actually, i'm looking for any and alot of ressources
moondragon's website has collected most of that kind of information that is out on the web and put it all on this page.
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so i tried to make some membrane art on the last 2 placentas that had the amnion separated from the chorion. i just cut the amnion from around the cord (it had separated from everything else). the amnion is the thinner of the two membranes - like wet double-ply saran wrap. i just spread and arranged them on the paper like i have read about people doing. i took photos of what it looked like and posted them here on flickr with some other placenta prints.
honestly, they were not near as cool as placenta prints - at least to me or the moms. i had thought after the fact that if i could gently stretch them out over a small or medium sized frame i could make kind of a semi-transparent membrane-canvas but this seemed kind of creepy - not to mention very fragile. i have heard that some traditional SE asians will stretch a small piece of it and have an image or totem painted on it. then it is framed or put in jewelry to protect the child.
after the membrane is totally dried it is fused with the paper. i was thinking that one could probably cut out a dried piece of it to fit inside a locket or something if one wanted to do some version of this tradition with it.
Great pics! But, yeah, I agree...the membrane stretching things does sound creepy
I love the placenta prints, though!
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My second baby was born in his bag of waters, which proceeded then to float around the birth tub like a jelly fish. It was so beautiful I asked the student midwife there to save it for me. I kept it in a tub of water in the fridge for a few days, they attached it to the belly of my belly cast. It is very fragile, and the edges have actually seperated from the cast itself. I love having it, it was so special and amazing to have a baby born in his bag of waters, in the water.
Does anyone have suggestions on how to get it to permanently attach to the cast? I thought of modge podge, but am afraid to put anything on it they may dissolve the membrane itself (its in one piece right now). Any suggestions?
wow, that is a really cool story! you know what they say about babies born in the caul - they are destined to be midwives or healers.
i should probably know this but i don't so i'll ask anyway - when the baby is born fully in the caul - enough to float around freely, have the membranes separated from the placenta somehow or has the placenta fully separated from the uterus and come with the membranes?
as far as the dried caul goes, perhaps you could gently rehydrate the edges and then try to get it to bond better with the cast using some sort of clear, low acid adhesive. good luck!
When he was born it was like there was a water balloon around his head, and after his body was born (it was in a water tub) the midwife peeled the membrane away from his body. So I guess the membranes have seperated from the placenta, etc.
Yeah- I totally think he's going to be a healer. He loves plants and is already teach the babies at daycare baby yoga! He has a very special, wise spirit.
I will try the rehydration- do recommend any particular adhesive?
i found this website with some interesting stories and information on caul births. she quotes
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Preserving the Caul
Cauls have been preserved in several ways through the millennia: from keeping them in jars or containers of water, to folding them up and keeping them in envelopes.
I recommend washing it in a salt water solution, laying it flat on a firm surface and keeping it refrigerated until it can be placed in the sun, in an oven on low heat or a in food dehydrator for preservation. It will curl up a bit and will be fairly fragile and brittle. It should be kept in a cool dry environment away from light and heat in a mesh bag so that it can breath. Once it is completely dry, you may want to permanently preserve it by placing it in a container and covering it with liquid plexiglas type material. This will preserve it indefinitely. It can also be kept in a mesh bag and attached inside the belly cast you made during the pregnancy, or it can be placed in an acid free cardboard box. Handling the caul will cause it to deteriorate more quickly, but preserved Cauls have been found in ancient archeological sites still completely intact.
A Caul will usually dry out and become more fragile as time passes, so it is important to take as much care as possible in preserving it at the start.
A recommended way to preserve a caul is to let it dry out after the birth, without folding it, and then laying it out on non-acidic cardboard or other non-reactive material. Cling-wrap or other such material is often used to cover both the caul and the backing material. Once this is done, the caul should be preserved in a dry, safe place, away from dust, heat and moisture.
the cling-wrap idea sounds like a good way to help hold it on but i would be careful to make sure it didn't harbor moisture or that would lead to mold. if it is not fully unattached from the belly cast, but just the edges are loose, i might personally just leave them alone (as this is sort of the spirit of caul births anyway) and just be careful with it. if it was fully unattached from the cast, i might also think about making a special paper envelope or origami box and putting in there and storing it inside the belly cast.
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Thanks so much! Its just the edges that are lifting up, I feel like I should just leave it alone. I do want to paint my belly cast someday, and maybe then I can figure out a way to preserve it more effectively>
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