Nope, That's Not a Halloween Decoration…

… It's placenta art! Because why eat your placenta when you can follow simple online tutorials for DIY placenta prints on paper? Or better yet, on t-shirts and onesies! Belly-bump painting is so done, y'all; parents are now coming up with countless creative methods for artistically immortalizing the afterbirth.

I actually would (make that will, if we go for baby #2 the old-fashioned way) eat my placenta -- in encapsulated form -- because, hey, why not? Even if the FDA won't confirm it, moms who rock placentophagy report more stable moods, better breastfeeding success, and a host of other benefits for themselves, and their babies. (Most other mammals eat their placentas, too.) It seems like a potentially helpful -- and, at the very least, harmless -- choice, and although the placenta itself doesn't strike me as eye candy, exactly, I could definitely handle it in pill form.

Photos like this, (here's another) however… Honestly? Kind of freak me out. I totally support the spirit behind them, but I'm just not really an embrace-the-blood-of-womanhood type. Do I think it's super cool that our bodies create organs specifically for the purpose of sustaining our babies as they grow in our wombs? Yes! Do I want to make tree-paintings, or a teddy bear, from the organ itself, once my baby's finished with it? Not so much. But I'm not judging. I think some of this art is pretty cool looking. It's definitely bragging rights territory; if you told me your kid's monster-print onesie was rendered, DIY-style, from placenta blood, I'd think, "Now THAT is hardcore." (Then I'd invite you over for a playdate and present you with craft supplies.)

What do you think? Is placenta art the new bronzed baby shoes? Would you hang an image made from your placenta on a wall in your home?