The Countdown Has Begun

I am officially 37 weeks pregnant today, which means my baby is considered full-term. Yay! Although I still have a lot of work to do for PulseWire before I go on maternity leave, I am secretly (okay, not so secretly) hoping for an early arrival! I cannot wait to meet the newest addition to our household!

The other day someone asked me if I planned on ingesting the placenta after birth, an act called placentophagy. I had never heard of this in relation to humans, but interestingly enough, MSNBC had an article about it this morning: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22087790/from/ET/

According to wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placentophagy), those who advocate placentophagy believe that eating the placenta prevents postpartum depression and other pregnancy complications.

I am so curious if anyone has experience with placentophagy or other rituals having to do with the placenta? I found mention of a Hawaiin ritual in a BBC article:

There is a Hawaiian tradition that the placenta should be planted with a tree, which would then grow alongside the child - and parents have been angered when hospitals have obstructed them from taking the placenta.(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4918290.stm)

I hope you will share your experiences here!