Actor Matthew McConaughey has kept the placenta from the birth of his son earlier this summer and plans to plant it in an orchard, according to Yahoo! News. McConaughey reportedly revealed this piece of information in an interview to CNN’s “House Call with Dr. Sanjay Gupta”, which is scheduled to air in two parts, one today and one on August 16.
Yep, we know it sounds weird, but people in some cultures actually bury the placenta for various reasons. For instance, the Māori of New Zealand traditionally bury the placenta from a newborn child to emphasize the relationship between humans and the earth. And in Costa Rica the burial of the placenta is said to protect the baby and ensure both the baby’s and the mother’s health. Not to gross you out, but in some cultures people even eat the placenta.
So, planting it might not be as crazy as it sounds, even though we here in the Western world usually just have it incinerated.