For Melbourne mother Jessica Patra, the postpartum period involved a 42-day confinement and a traditional Balinese ritual of burying her baby's placenta in the backyard. Patra explained that she watered the buried placenta with her own breast milk, a practice she undertook as part of honoring the Kanda Empat, the four spiritual siblings believed to accompany and protect a child throughout their life.
Patra welcomed her daughter Mia seven months ago and committed to this period of seclusion to focus on her and her newborn's health and bonding. "I was literally squirting my milk onto the plant outside," Patra told news.com.au, acknowledging that the practice might seem unusual to some. She emphasized the importance of setting boundaries before Mia's birth to ensure a protected and nourishing environment, free from the demands of hosting visitors.
"During that 42-day period, I just really was just so present as a mom, learning her; she was learning me. It was just a very beautiful time," she recalled. Patra found this period essential for mothers to slow down and be nurtured, contrasting it with societal expectations for new mothers to "bounce back" quickly.
The ritual involved planting the placenta in a pot beneath a juvenile frangipani tree. Daily, Patra would acknowledge the plant, asking Mia's Kanda Empat to "protect her, love and guide Mia throughout her journey." While family members would video call to hold ceremonies with incense and offerings, the confinement period allowed Patra to be fully present and avoid the stresses of managing household duties for guests.
Patra views the nurturing of the frangipani tree as a metaphor for how society often supports new mothers. "It’s almost like nurturing, filling the cup up of a mother. Filling up her glass of water or giving her food, checking in and having no expectation for her to message back or send a photo," she said.
Despite Melbourne's winter not being ideal for a frangipani to bloom, Patra noted the plant's resilience. "During winter they’ll always shed their leaves. They’ll essentially die off, and then they’ll come back. But this particular frangipani that’s in the pot, there are still green leaves on there," she observed, attributing some of its vitality to the breast milk. She anticipates the plant will flower in the summer heat. The tradition, she shared, continues to be a strong and powerful presence in her life, reminding her of her spiritual roots.