Editing Placenta (section)

==Society and culture==
The placenta often plays an important role in various [[culture]]s, with many societies conducting [[rituals]] regarding its disposal. In the [[Western world]], the placenta is most often [[incinerate]]d.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news |title=Why eat a placenta? |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4918290.stm |work=BBC News |date=18 April 2006 }}</ref>

Some cultures [[Burial|bury]] the placenta for various reasons. The [[Māori people|Māori]] of [[New Zealand]] traditionally bury the placenta from a newborn child to emphasize the relationship between humans and the earth.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors= Metge J |title=Working In/Playing With Three Languages |journal=Sites: A Journal of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies |date=2005 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=83–90 |doi=10.11157/sites-vol2iss2id65 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Likewise, the [[Navajo people|Navajo]] bury the placenta and umbilical cord at a specially chosen site,<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Francisco E |title=Bridging the Cultural Divide in Medicine |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/bridging-cultural-divide-medicine |work=Science |date=3 December 2004 }}</ref> particularly if the baby dies during birth.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Shepardson M | title = Changes in Navajo mortuary practices and beliefs | journal = American Indian Quarterly | volume = 4 | issue = 4 | pages = 383–396 | date = 1978 | pmid = 11614175 | doi = 10.2307/1184564 | jstor = 1184564 }}</ref> In [[Cambodia]] and [[Costa Rica]], burial of the placenta is believed to protect and ensure the health of the baby and the mother.<ref name="mothering">{{cite web |url=http://www.mothering.com/articles/pregnancy_birth/birth_preparation/amazing_placenta_side.html |title=Placenta Rituals and Folklore from around the World | vauthors = Buckley SJ |work=Mothering |access-date=7 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080106075807/http://www.mothering.com/articles/pregnancy_birth/birth_preparation/amazing_placenta_side.html |archive-date=6 January 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> If a mother dies in childbirth, the [[Aymara people|Aymara]] of [[Bolivia]] bury the placenta in a secret place so that the mother's spirit will not return to claim her baby's life.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Davenport A |title=The Love Offer |journal=Johns Hopkins Magazine |date=June 2005 |volume=57 |issue=3 |url=https://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/0605web/ruminate.html }}</ref>

The placenta is believed by some communities to have power over the lives of the baby or its parents. The [[Kwakiutl]] of [[British Columbia]] bury girls' placentas to give the girl skill in digging clams, and expose boys' placentas to [[raven]]s to encourage future [[prophet]]ic visions. In [[Turkey]], the proper disposal of the placenta and umbilical cord is believed to promote devoutness in the child later in life. In [[Transylvania]] and [[Japan]], interaction with a disposed placenta is thought to influence the parents' future fertility.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Several cultures believe the placenta to be or have been alive, often a relative of the baby. [[Nepal]]ese think of the placenta as a friend of the baby; the [[orang Asli]] and [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malay]] populations in [[Malay Peninsula]] regard it as the baby's older sibling.<ref name="mothering"/><ref name="EPM">{{Cite book | vauthors = Barakbah A |title=Ensiklopedia Perbidanan Melayu |publisher=Universiti Islam Malaysia Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-967-13305-9-3 |pages=236–237}}</ref> [[Native Hawaiians]] believe that the placenta is a part of the baby, and traditionally plant it with a tree that can then grow alongside the child.<ref name="bbc"/>  Various cultures in [[Indonesia]], such as [[Javanese people|Javanese]] and Malay, believe that the placenta has a spirit and needs to be buried outside the family house. Some Malays would bury the baby's placenta with a [[pencil]] (if it is a boy) or a [[Sewing needle|needle]] and [[Thread (yarn)|thread]] (if it is a girl).<ref name="EPM" />

In some cultures, the placenta is eaten, a practice known as [[human placentophagy]]. In some eastern cultures, such as [[China]], the dried placenta (''ziheche'' {{linktext|紫|河|车}}, literally "purple river car") is thought to be a healthful restorative and is sometimes used in preparations of [[traditional Chinese medicine]] and various health products.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/eatplcnt.html|title=Medicinal Uses of the Placenta| vauthors = Falcao R |access-date=25 November 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205030123/http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/eatplcnt.html|archive-date=5 December 2008}}</ref>  The practice of human placentophagy has become a more recent trend in western cultures and is not without [[Human placentophagy#Controversy|controversy]]; its practice being considered [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]] is debated.

Some cultures have [[alternative uses for placenta]] that include the manufacturing of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and food.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Kroløkke C, Dickinson E, Foss KA |date=May 2018|title=The placenta economy: From trashed to treasured bio-products|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1350506816679004|journal=European Journal of Women's Studies|language=en|volume=25|issue=2|pages=138–153|doi=10.1177/1350506816679004|s2cid=151874106 |issn=1350-5068}}</ref>