Bali Dive Blog

Some Background
It is Indonesian tradition to bury the baby’s placenta. The placenta is seen as the older sibling or twin of the child, and thus it is accorded special care. The thinking goes somewhat like this: the placenta as the twin of the baby will act as its guardian angel as the child goes through life. Thus, the better the care given to the placenta, the more protective it will be. Most Indonesians bury the placenta at home, ensuring that the child will stay close to the family as s/he grows older. Others take the placenta to sea, so that the child’s perspective and thought process will be as deep and as wide as the ocean and that they will travel far. Most Indonesians bury the placenta on the day of the birth, and the job of cleaning, preparing and burying the placenta is strictly the father’s business.

Hengky has modified the tradition somewhat, instead of taking the placenta out to sea and drifting it on the water, he has created his own ritual, burying the placenta at a dive site in Tulamben, Bali. Hengky’s first son, Gregor’s, placenta was buried at the Drop Off at 68.5 meters with Erwin presiding as Godfather (dive buddy). The plan this time around was to take Gavin’s placenta to Batu Kelebit.

Like many Indonesian traditions, I don’t readily discount this one, and indeed I find it incredibly endearing in its odd way. As Hengky and I are rabid divers, and expect that our sons will be, too, we trust that placing their placentas in Tulamben will ensure that they take to the water like little fish.

This time around six days passed between the birth and the dive (as they had for Gregor). Hengky was able to combine the dive with the Kapal Selam Chinese New Year Trip and recruited Mulyadi and Tom as his dive buddies and thus Gavin’s Godfathers (as we are not religious, this is the closest we can get). The placenta was taken from the hospital and placed in the freezer til Wednesday when it was defrosted and cleaned by Hengky.

Wednesday the 25th: Cleaning the Placenta
Gavin and I got home from the hospital on Tuesday and what with one thing and another, the cleaning of the placenta was delayed until the following day. The placenta had come home from the hospital in a clay pot and been placed in the freezer, so Hengky had to first “defrost” it under running water before he could begin to clean it and prepare it for burial.

Squatting in the garden with the hose in the late afternoon, Hengky carefully cleaned the placenta and umbilical cord, ridding it of any blood and marveling at its elasticity and strength. Gavin slept peacefully in his carry cot on the table as Hengky assembled the items to be placed with the placenta in the clay pot he would take to Tulamben. Indonesians believe that this will affect the child’s future, so much thought was put into it. Being in the throes of post-birth emotions, I found the scene immensely heartening and touching. Watching the care and seriousness which Hengky took over Gavin and his “twin” had me near tears of joy.

After the placenta was thoroughly cleaned, Hengky soaked the placenta with flowers from the garden and the bouquets we received in the hospital- red roses, white and purple moon orchids, jasmine, yellow hibiscus- and then wrapped this all in white cloth (one of Gavin’s nappies) and again in some Chinese red silk. The white cloth signifies purity of heart, and the red bravery, the yellow flowers represent luck. This was placed in the bottom of a small earthenware pot. To this was added paper and pencil (to make him a serious student and smart), a set of Gavin’s baby clothes (as he is seen as Gavin’s twin and thus also in need of clothing), cologne (so that he smells nice and not sweaty), and finally a collection of money: 20 US dollars, 10 Hong Kong dollars, and 20,000 rupiah (to ensure his prosperity).

The task completed, the placenta pot was wrapped in a plastic bag and again placed in the freezer to await Saturday’s trip to Tulamben. Hengky and I sat around the table gazing at Gavin sleeping and chatted about his own placenta. Realizing he didn’t know where it was buried, he called his Dad, who informed him that he had never bothered with the ritual. Which was interesting as Hengky feels it is so important. But then again, perhaps that is why.

Saturday the 28th: Burying the Placenta in Tulamben
We woke early on the 28th and I hopped in the shower before Ibu Eka came from Puri Bunda to bathe Gavin. Getting all of Gavin’s and Hengky’s gear sorted, we headed off for Tulamben by 8:30, arriving by 11 or so. The Kapal Selam Chinese New Year Trip participants had already arrived at Matahari Resort and were busy setting up their gear.

Everyone stopped for a moment to ogle Gavin who had slept through the car trip and wasn’t about to wake up now. Hengky assembled his gear and added a pony tank to his usual set up as spare air. Hengky, Mulyadi and Tom wouldn’t follow the rest of the divers, instead they were planning on diving deep (in usual Hengky style, no limit was placed on the dive).

Everything assembled, the 18 divers set off in jukung (traditional small Indonesian wooden boats with runners) for Batu Kelebit. The sky was overcast and the sea a bit choppy. The rivers had all recently flowed into the sea, creating some of the worst diving conditions in a long time. As everyone left Gavin, Iluh and I sitting peacefully in the open-air restaurant, I was repeatedly asked if I wasn’t jealous that they were all diving. But looking at the conditions, I was decidedly not. As the jukung slowly departed, misty rain began to fall. No, I was happy to sit snugly in the restaurant and eat my favorite Mature dish, their kelopok fish ball soup- a real treat!

Hengky, Mulyadi and Tom were the first divers to return. Beaming with success, they intoned, “Mission Accomplished” before shrugging out of their wet gear. Desperate for details, I asked that they each recount the story of the dive, begging Mulyadi to supply me with details Hengky left out.

The dive went like this: the three entered blue water and set a compass heading to Batu Kelebit. They descended 51 meters before spotting the reef below them. They continued to descend looking for the perfect place for Gavin’s placenta. Tom elected to stay above Hengky and Mulyadi with the extra tank they had brought for their deco stop. Mulyadi and Hengky continued to 74 meters before finding the perfect place for the placenta- snug and secure under a crevice of coral. With their job done, they quickly followed the reef to shallower water, stopping along the way to complete decompression stops. They finished off their deco with air remaining in the tanks and then went down to 16 meters again to see if they could find the other divers. No such luck as the visibility was low and their NDL limits quickly receded.

Back on the jukung they recounted their adventure as they headed back to Mature. The other divers slowly surfaced and made their way back to the restaurant. A long lunch followed, and Gavin was drooled over again and again. Auntie Irene brought him his first Levi’s – a set of jumpers and jeans for the three-six month old set which were positively adorable.

With his placenta finally at rest, we hope that Gavin will be too, and that it will continue to watch out for him as he makes his way through a life bound to be full of adventure.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 30th, 2006 at 12:10 and is filed under SCUBA Diving, Bali, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.