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In continuation of the umbilical cord, for the people of Sierra Leone it is said that a baby is named after the cord has dropped off. Prior to this time, it is thought that the baby does not yet have an identity of it’s own. In Sierra Leone, people treat the placenta as a special object. Following birth, the placenta is buried by the child’s maternal female elders. A hole is then dug below a banana tree by the wife’s mother or another female elder at the house of the maternal grandmother.
The placenta is said placed in a circle, and the end that connected the child to the mother is then placed upright. The people believe that if this end is buried in a downward position, it will cause sterility. The disposal of the placenta indicates that the child has transformed from being alone in the mother’s womb and will take it’s place in the family and community during the naming ceremony.
