A public health administrator in Champaign, Ill., is asking that whoever is dumping fresh born plancentas into the local sewage system to, you know, stop it.
For the third time, workers at the local water treatment plant found afterbirth caught in a filter designed to keep large foreign objects (including human organs!) out of the treatment facility.
The placentas are consider potentially infectious medical waste and regulations forbid disposal in the sewer system.
The department apparently believes the flushed placentas were from homebirths. From a letter released by the public health office:
The individual or individuals in the community that have been engaging in this practice must stop immediately and begin disposing of the medical waste associated with home births in an approved manner. ...
Local health authorities strongly encourage community members to alert the proper agencies if they have any information regarding the unauthorized disposal of medical waste.
Authorities are investigating.
I think there's probably more to this story. Illinois is another of many states were midwifery is basically, if not outright, illegal. But homebirths attended by illegal midwives happen frequently and have been documented. So I think there's probably something more to this case -- that it's not some illegal but skilled and trained midwife flushing placentas down the toilet. Then again, I watch too much Law & Order.
Be like me and throw the things in the trash.
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My Illegal Homebirth
Photo: blog.wired.com
