We have all seen photos of faces burnt onto toast or latte art, but a newborn baby on Facebook takes the cake for art on unconventional mediums. The photo of the baby has been circulating quickly around the web and it involves his umbilical cord looped around to spell the word "love."
The photo was taken by Emma Jean, a professional photographer based in Australia. "Welcome earthside sweet little Harper," says the photo's caption on the popular social networking site. According to Yahoo! Parenting, the unique and creative photo of baby Harper has "been liked more than 4,400 times and shared more than 1,000." This was all accomplished in quite a short time, as the photo was only posted on January 2, 2016.
The photo shows Harper's umbilical cord still attached to his placenta. This is because, as a Maori baby, tradition states that his placenta will be buried and "returned to the Earth." Some observance of this tradition even plants trees on top once they cover their placentas in the soil. The post involving baby Harper's picture concluded with the line, "How will you honor your placenta?"
As of today, over 500 people have commented on the photo calling it "amazing" and "beautiful," among other things. Others also shared what they had done to their placenta, including the aforementioned Maori tradition. Some people even state that they followed the current nutritional (and celebrity) trend of eating it. There were few who had their placenta freeze dried for future consumption if need be.
Even in the United States, where placenta does not usually have much value post-birth, the Maori tradition has begun to hold new roots. Many people admit that this photo changed their view on the placenta. "By never looking at it, it made me nauseous to even think of it. Although reading these comments and reading what was done with many of them is quite beautiful," says one former skeptic in a comment.
