>how about it was awkward (and smelly) to carry a placenta around
>attached to the baby until it dried up and the cord broke?

In Mali, the mother stays in bed for three days with baby (and placenta) --
she doesn't carry it anywhere, so it isn't awkward.  Yes, it smells, but
life IS smelly in most of the world and for most of human prehistory and
history.  Modern day Americans have a strange cultural aversion to smells --
especially body smells.  In places where the pit latrine is 30 feet away,
and although people bathe every day they also do very hard physical labor in
intense heat/humidity and they sweat a lot and no one uses antiperspirant or
deodorant, and there are domestic animals (cows, goats, chickens) living
nearby and the ever-present smell of wood smoke from the fire, and food
cooking -- LIFE SMELLS.  I never asked, but I seriously doubt anyone notices
the extra smell from the placenta, or cares even if they do notice it.  One
of my strongest memories about coming back to the U.S. after two years in
West Africa was that the US has no smell, and that that was a great loss.

Kathy Dettwyler