They say a picture tells a thousand words, but in this instance just one is enough.
This striking image of a newborn baby with his placenta and umbilical cord spelling out the word 'love' was captured by midwife-turned-photographer, Emma Jean Nolan. Emma, 30, from Brisbane, said that she had shared the black and white image on social media to raise awareness of a ‘beautiful and sacred’ but little-known Maori cultural practice called whenua.
She added that the placenta is not something that is 'appreciated or honoured' in Western culture. She captured the shot of Harper Hoani Spies just an hour and a half after he was born at 3.53am on 2 January.
Emma, a mum-of-one, said she wanted to draw attention to whenua - the Maori word for both placenta and land - which refers to the ancient tradition of burying a newborn's placenta after their birth.
She captioned the image: 'Welcome earthside sweet little Harper.
This striking image of a newborn baby with his placenta and umbilical cord spelling out the word 'love' was captured by midwife-turned-photographer, Emma Jean Nolan. Emma, 30, from Brisbane, said that she had shared the black and white image on social media to raise awareness of a ‘beautiful and sacred’ but little-known Maori cultural practice called whenua.
She added that the placenta is not something that is 'appreciated or honoured' in Western culture. She captured the shot of Harper Hoani Spies just an hour and a half after he was born at 3.53am on 2 January.
Emma, a mum-of-one, said she wanted to draw attention to whenua - the Maori word for both placenta and land - which refers to the ancient tradition of burying a newborn's placenta after their birth.
She captioned the image: 'Welcome earthside sweet little Harper.
'As a Maori baby his placenta will now be returned to the land. The word 'whenua' relates to the placenta and to the land. Whenua (placenta) is returned to the whenua (land) with the pito (umbilical cord) the link between the newborn and papatuanuku(mother earth).
'With this affinity established, each individual fulfils the role of curator, for papatuanuku (mother earth), which remains life long.'
The photograph was liked almost 2,500 times in a matter of days, and Emma added: ‘I did not expect to get such a huge response to the image.'
'With this affinity established, each individual fulfils the role of curator, for papatuanuku (mother earth), which remains life long.'
The photograph was liked almost 2,500 times in a matter of days, and Emma added: ‘I did not expect to get such a huge response to the image.'
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