New Law Lets Families Take Home Placentas

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle signed a bill in Honolulu allowing hospitals to release the placenta, which connects mother and child in the womb, for use in a traditional Hawaiian ceremony.

In Hawaiian belief, the placenta is considered a part of the child. Ceremonies in the islands include burying it under a tree, so that the growth of the tree can be used to better understand psychological and spiritual changes in the child.

State rules regulating blood-bearing products had prohibited families from taking the placenta from the hospital, the state Department of Health said.